Former president Jacob Zuma’s MK Party heads back to the Pretoria High Court on Thursday, insisting that President Cyril Ramaphosa’s appointment of Prof. Firoz Cachalia as police minister without removing Minister Senzo Mchunu was unconstitutional

The case, dismissed twice previously on technical grounds, returns to the Pretoria High Court for a third attempt, with the party demanding that the merits finally be tested.

In a statement on Wednesday, MKP spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela said Ramaphosa’s conduct amounted to an abuse of executive power.

Ndhlela cited three core complaints: the decision to place the then-Police Minister Senzo Mchunu on “leave” rather than formally removing him; the appointment of Prof. Firoz Cachalia as Acting Police Minister despite his not being a Cabinet member; and the choice to appoint a sitting judge to oversee an inquiry into alleged judicial capture.

Ramaphosa made the decisions after the KZN Police commissioner, Lt-Gen. Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi accused Mchunu of being in cahoots with criminal syndicates.

Mkhwanazi accused Mchunu of using his political powers to protect criminals for his own financial interests.

Ndhlela said the arrest on Wednesday of a Gauteng High Court judge, Portia Dipuo Phahlane, on charges of bribery and corruption has intensified the political stakes.

IOL reported that Phalane was one of four people arrested by the Directorate for Priority Crimes Investigation (Hawks) late Tuesday night.

The arrests follow a major corruption and money‑laundering investigation linked to a succession dispute within the International Pentecost Holiness Church.

Phahlane is not related to the Zuma and Ramaphosa case. 

Ndhlela said the development “vindicates” the party’s long-standing warning that assigning a judge to investigate judicial corruption was inappropriate and risked deepening conflict within the judiciary.

The dispute lands in a volatile political moment, with tensions between the executive, the judiciary, and the Zuma-aligned MK Party continuing to escalate.

Earlier this year, both the High Court and the Constitutional Court declined to hear the substance of the MKP’s case, citing procedural issues.

The party said this move was to shield Ramaphosa from accountability.

“This case will not disappear,” Ndhlela said. “This time, it must be heard on its merits.”

kamogelo.moichela@iol.co.za

IOL Politics

Source link