Members of Parliament Divided Over Senzo Mchunu’s Controversial PKTT Decision
- Members of an ad hoc parliamentary committee clashed over findings related to Police Minister Senzo Mchunu's decision to disband the PKTT
- MK Party MP Vusi Shongwe pushed for the draft report to name specific individuals as external forces who influenced Mchunu
- ANC Chief Whip Mdumiseni Ntuli rejected the claim, arguing the assertion of external influence was too strong to include
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SOUTH AFRICA — An Ad hoc parliamentary committee investigating police corruption allegations remained sharply divided on Monday as members debated the wording of their draft report, particularly around whether Police Minister Senzo Mchunu acted under outside influence when he disbanded the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT) in December 2024.
The committee session focused on proposed amendments from political parties, with one of the most contentious points being whether the final report should explicitly state that Mchunu was swayed by external interests before making his decision.
MK Party and ANC at odds over Mchunu
MK Party MP Vusi Shongwe called for the draft report to make the finding unambiguous.
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"It's clear. It says external forces like Mary de Haas and Brown Mogotsi, and it is supported by the annexures that Mchunu submitted," Shongwe said, insisting the documentary record backed the claim.
ANC Chief Whip Mdumiseni Ntuli pushed back firmly against that position.
"I don't quite agree with the strong assertion that the minister has been influenced because it's a very strong assertion that he's been influenced by external forces," Ntuli said.
He argued that Mchunu had weighed input from various interested parties alongside internal departmental reports before arriving at his decision, and that characterising the process as undue influence overstated the case.
Secret recording allegation also in dispute
A second unresolved matter concerns allegations that Mchunu, who is currently on special leave, instructed his chief of staff, Cedric Nkabinde, to covertly record a conversation with KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi. Committee members remained divided on how the report should address that allegation as well.
The latest round of deliberations is part of a broader effort to bring the committee's work to a close. The report has gone through multiple rounds of amendments and missed several deadlines as parties struggle to reach consensus on key findings.
The committee is ultimately tasked with determining what findings and recommendations regarding political interference and police corruption will appear in the final report submitted to Parliament.
COPE calls on Ramaphosa to fire Mchunu
Briefly News also reported that the Congress of the People (COPE) demanded that President Cyril Ramaphosa immediately dismiss Senzo Mchunu, citing testimony heard at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry. The party stated that Mchunu was unfit to hold public office, saying that the revelations before the commission had destroyed whatever confidence remained in Mchunu's ability to serve in government. The party also raised sharp questions about the financial cost to taxpayers of maintaining two Police Ministers simultaneously — one active and one suspended.
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Source: Briefly News
