By Anita Dangazele
- MK Party supporters in Qonce marched to Eastern Cape police headquarters demanding criminal charges against Minister Senzo Mchunu and Lieutenant General Shadrack Sibiya.
- Police boss Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi accused Mchunu of disbanding the task team probing political killings and interfering in sensitive investigations.
Supporters of the MK Party marched through the streets of Qonce in the Eastern Cape on Wednesday to show support for KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.
The group walked from Victoria Mxenge Grounds to the provincial police headquarters in Zwelitsha. They carried banners calling for action against those who Mkhwanazi says are sabotaging the fight against political killings.
The protest is part of a national campaign by the MK Party to support Mkhwanazi. Last week, he stunned the country by accusing Police Minister Senzo Mchunu of interfering in police investigations and disbanding the task team investigating political murders.
Mkhwanazi said the order to dissolve the team came from national headquarters without consulting the KwaZulu-Natal police leadership. The task team had been investigating the murders of councillors and whistle-blowers in politically motivated attacks.
On Tuesday, national police commissioner Fannie Masemola ordered Lieutenant General Shadrack Sibiya, who was also implicated by Mkhwanazi, to take leave.
MK Party Buffalo City Metro coordinator Mzwandile Vaaiboom said: “We are going there to give our support to Mkhwanazi. We are urging other such police officers to follow suit in what Mkhwanazi is doing. The police are here to prevent, combat and investigate crime — so what was said about the political killings showed us the problems we are facing as a country as some cases ended up not being investigated.”
Vaaiboom added: “We reject this commission because it is just a waste of money and we see it as a parallel process to what the police are doing. And the police are fully capable of investigating these charges, where they will be taken to court thereafter. Now when a case is opened and you do something else on the side [the president] yet there is no additional budget for the police is a problem.”
The MK Party handed over a petition calling for Mchunu to be prosecuted. Last week they laid criminal charges against him and Sibiya at Durban Central police station.
President Cyril Ramaphosa placed Mchunu on special leave on Sunday and appointed Professor Firoz Cachalia as acting minister from August. He also announced a judicial commission of inquiry, led by acting deputy chief justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, to investigate claims that criminal syndicates have infiltrated the police, intelligence and justice system.
Pictured above: KZN Provincial Police Commissioner General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.
Image source: supplied
