Nkabinde and Mchunu's testimony at ad hoc committee should be a wake-up call to new leaders, MKP says
uMkhonto weSizwe Party MP, Thulani Shongwe, has expressed his disappointment at the calibre of some officials working in the SAPS after proceedings came to a screeching halt during the testimony of suspended Minister Senzo Mchunu’s chief of staff, Cedrick Nkabinde.
Parliament’s Ad Hoc Committee investigating allegations made by SAPS KwaZulu-Natal provincial commissioner, Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, is probing the explosive allegations made at a press conference on July 6, months after Mchunu issued controversial directives, including the disbanding of the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT) to SAPS national commissioner Fannie Masemola on December 31, 2024.
Thursday afternoon’s proceedings took a turn when contradictions between the evidence Nkabinde submitted in his affidavit to the committee and the verbal testimony he was delivering were pointed out by MPs.
Speaking after proceedings came to an end, Shongwe said that the calibre of Mchunu and his chief of staff Nkabinde is “very alarming and worrisome”.
“The mere fact that the chief of staff can’t answer a simple question honestly… You cannot say you are running the diary of the minister, but at the same time, you flip-flop on dates.
“He lied many times… He wants us to admit certain parts of the statement while using the excuse of his gadgets being taken,” Shongwe said.
“We gave him a chance to come back with a proper statement because our aim is not to get him to lie, but our aim is to make sure that he tells us about what is really going on there.
“The status of the SAPS, I hope, under the leadership of General Masemola, will come to an understanding of how we want South Africa to run the security cluster properly and also protect our people.”
Shongwe said that the proceedings he has witnessed in the ad hoc committee are a wake-up call to new leaders like himself in the political space.
“People like me, new leaders in the political space, should learn from this, that once you take something from somebody who’s gonna control you, you’re not gonna run the office properly.
“Once you start lying from the inception of the office, you will lie at the end. You will be caught.
“It gives us an opportunity to learn and know that if you lead, lead properly. If you can’t lead properly, go do business elsewhere.”
theolin.tembo@inl.co.za