Criminal charges filed against Police Minister Senzo Mchunu

South Africa’s Democratic Alliance, the second-biggest party in the coalition government, laid criminal charges against the nation’s police minister, who has been accused of interfering in an investigation into political assassinations.

The DA initiated legal action against Police Minister Senzo Mchunu, a key ally of President Cyril Ramaphosa, at the Cape Town Central Police Station on Thursday.

“What we have here is the police minister deliberately lied to parliament on 5 March, and that is fraud and therefore a criminal act,” DA deputy chief whip Baxolile Nododa told reporters.

“We joined the government of national unity in order to root out corruption and hold each other accountable, and that is what we are doing.”

The charges come four days after a senior law-enforcement official accused Mchunu of sabotaging a probe into political killings by seizing 121 open case files in March and pushing to disband the team tasked with the probe.

Ramaphosa said on July 8 he’d address the matter, though he’s yet to announce what actions he’ll take. Mchunu has rejected the allegations.

The DA’s action highlights a broader dispute that the party has with its larger partner in the coalition government, Ramaphosa’s African National Congress.

The two parties clashed last month after the president fired deputy trade minister and DA member Andrew Whitfield for unauthorised travel.

In turn, the DA demanded Ramaphosa act against other ANC cabinet colleagues who’ve been accused of wrongdoing, including Higher Education Minister Nobuhle Nkabane, and debated a potential vote-of-no-confidence against him.

While the DA decided against that vote, it laid a criminal complaint against Nkabane for lying to parliament and alleged fraud. The ANC has defended the minister, saying she hasn’t broken any laws.

Policing Failures

The allegations against Mchunu by KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi highlight the desperate state of policing in South Africa, where law enforcement has become politicised and often dysfunctional.

Since 2000, of the five national police commissioners permanently appointed to the post, four have been removed for infractions ranging from corruption to incompetence.

Between 2000 and 2015, the three people who held the post had no prior policing experience.

“We are seeing organised crime growing exponentially in South Africa to an extent where it’s threatening the fabric of society,” said Julian Rademeyer, director of the Organised Crime Observatory for East and Southern Africa at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime.

South Africa is plagued by violent crime, including one of the highest recorded murder rates in the world, while corruption is blamed — alongside mismanagement — for handicapping economic growth that has been anaemic for the past 15 years.

“These are very serious allegations,” DA leader John Steenhuisen said in an interview.

“It’s highly unlikely Mkhwanazi would make these allegations unless he was sure of his facts, and this requires a high-level intervention from the president. It can’t be left to hang.”