Mantashe warns ministers: Your only money is your salary
Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe has urged his fellow ministers to avoid trouble and focus solely on their salaries.
He warned that failing to do so could lead them into hot water, much like Police Minister Senzo Mchunu. Speaking at the memorial service for the late former Deputy President David Mabuza in Mpumalanga, Mantashe joked that any wrongdoers would have to be sent to Mchunu, who serves as the political custodian of policing in the country.
“As a cadre, you must be ethical, you must not be elected and later enrich yourself with money that does not belong to you. Your only money is called a salary,” he said.
“If you take money that is not your salary, you are not ethical, you will be like this minister who is in trouble now, Minister [Senzo] Mchunu. You’ll have to meet Mchunu. Once you take money that is not your salary, put it in your pockets, you’ll meet Mchunu.”
Mantashe’s remarks come after the KZN Police Commissioner, Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, alleged that top law enforcement figures — including Mchunu and Deputy National Commissioner Shadrack Sibiya — were involved in a powerful syndicate backed by drug cartels and influential business interests.
Mkhwanazi further alleged Mchunu was interfering in the political interference within the SAPS.
Mchunu has since denied the provincial commissioner’s allegations.
This week, Mchunu reversed his earlier denial of any association with businessman Brown Mogotsi, now acknowledging—four months later—that he does, in fact, know him, albeit “only as a comrade.”
Previously, Mchunu had categorically denied any familiarity with Mogotsi during a parliamentary session.
In March, while responding to questions from the Police Portfolio Committee, he stated unequivocally, “I don’t know this person,” referring to Mogotsi.
He further claimed he was shown a photograph of Mogotsi after reports emerged that someone was falsely presenting themselves as being close to him, yet insisted at the time that he did not recognise the individual.
Amid growing scrutiny, President Cyril Ramaphosa has scheduled a national address for Sunday at 7pm.
The televised “family meeting” is expected to address the allegations and shed light on the explosive claims recently made by Mkhwanazi.
Meanwhile, Mantashe made headlines last month after his son Buyambo Mantashe, was appointed as one of the Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA) board chairpersons.
The public, including politicians, cried foul, saying this was nepotism at its best. The minister’s son was later removed.
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