Suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu will not only conclude his testimony with evidence leader Advocate Norman Arendse tomorrow, but Members of Parliament (MPs) will also grill him as they feel that he still has a lot to account for.

Parliament’s Ad Hoc Committee investigating the allegations made by SAPS KwaZulu-Natal provincial head Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi is scheduled to meet at 9am on Tuesday to continue to hear Mchunu’s main submission.

Tuesday’s hearing is set to be a long day with Arendse still set to question the minister in some matters, and then MPs will start with their questions.

While several have already indicated that Mchunu will face robust questions; however, others have indicated that they feel a lot of clarity will be needed regarding what powers Mchunu had as police minister, but also his relationship with Brown Mogotsi.

uMkhonto weSizwe Party’s (MKP) Sibonelo Nomvalo said that they will “focus on each and every aspect of the testimony, like we did when General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi appeared before the committee”.

Inkatha Freedom Party’s Mangaqa Albert Mncwango said ‘die poppe sal dans’ (the paw-paw will hit the fan) when Mchunu gets in front of the MPs.

On Monday, Freedom Front Plus’ Wouter Wessels said he feels “a lot of progress has not been made with regards to his testimony”.

“It took very long, and a lot of points were to a large extent belaboured and repeated, and the evidence leader has not really gotten to a lot of the pertinent questions. As we see it, there are two very important issues, and one is the interpretation of Section 205 of the Constitution – regarding what powers the minister has, and if a directive disbanding a task team falls under that prerogative or not? If so, did he overreach? Did Mchunu act ultra vires, or not?

“The second aspect is, if he did this to prevent a certain investigation, as the allegation appears. That must all be established. Or, was Mchunu misused to disband the Political Killing Task Team (PKTT) in order to stop the investigation, but he was not aware of the fact that that is the reason? Did he act out of the belief that PKTT’s end of life has been reached?”

Wessels explained that Mchunu made good points on Friday, “with regards to why it would be better to get the task team as a unit, to get the new organisational structure going, and not a separate class team that costs the taxpayer a lot of money while it does not address the criminality aspects that are threatening a majority of South Africans daily”.

Wessels said that they will have to establish whether Mchunu overreached on purpose or if he was of the belief that he had the power, and/or did he do it with some other intention, or whether he did it because he believed that the task team was costing too much.

“What we must remember, and what must be emphasised, is that the task team only had a 17% conviction rate, and cost hundreds of millions of rand per year, which does not translate into convictions, and was to a large extent, not very effective.

“We already saw that the testimony and the version of General Mkwanazi are not absolutely correct, to say that the task was very effective, (at least) not in terms of what its actual mandate was.

“Maybe in terms of other investigations outside of its mandate, and that is where the actual nexus lies,” Wessels said.

“Hopefully, with the questioning of Mchunu on Tuesday, and then also the previous minister (later in the week) and other role players, we’ll get to the bottom of those pertinent questions.”

ActionSA said that they have reviewed Mchunu’s testimony and “is focused on interrogating several inconsistencies as well as his relationship with Mr Brown Mogotsi, which has not yet been properly tested through evidence”.

“We are hopeful that the evidence leader will address this matter tomorrow. While much has already been said about the PKTT, we believe there are more critical areas of testimony on which Minister Mchunu should be cross-examined, especially concerning his apparent association with Mr Brown Mogotsi and Mr Vusimuzi Matlala,” the party said.

It is currently unclear whether Mchunu will also appear before the committee on Wednesday, but the day has been set aside in case Tuesday’s proceedings run over.

However, following Mchunu’s appearance, will be that of former police minister Bheki Cele, who has been set down to appear before the committee on Thursday and Friday.

Wessels added that Cele’s appearance will be important.

“It’s important to get former minister Bheki Cele’s version, and concerning what was in front of him as minister, in terms of the ineffectiveness, the problems and the complaints about the PKTT? And if there is merit in that or not, because according to the version of Minister Mchunu, there were issues discussed during Cele’s tenure already, and I think that is why it’s important to get his version as well.”

theolin.tembo@inl.co.za

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