Mchunu denies links to drug cartels, says testimony from top cop Mkhwanazi surprised him

Suspended Minister Senzo Mchunu says he has no links to any drug cartels in the country or elsewhere.

He is currently being cross-examined by the Ad Hoc Committee that is investigating the allegations made by SAPS KwaZulu-Natal provincial commissioner, Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi regarding political interference in the work of the police and infiltration by criminal elements.

Responding to questions on Wednesday, Mchunu said he did not know why Mkhwanazi and national police commissioner Fannie Masemola had testified about his links to drug cartels, saying that the allegations had left him baffled.

Mchunu has come under intense scrutiny after his decision to disband the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT).

“Now, I am saying there is no drug cartel that I am linked to. There is none, and I never acted in support, directly or indirectly, of any drug cartel in South Africa. It never happened,” he said.

Mchunu was responding to questions from ActionSA MP Dereleen James, who asked why he would believe the two most senior police officials would make such a serious allegation about him.

The suspended minister also said he had not heard of the so called “Big Five” cartels that were named by Mkhwanazi as being involved in extensive criminal activities in the country.

Mchunu said that before Mkhwanazi’s explosive briefing on July 6, the Crime Intelligence had briefed him about cartels operating in the country involving drugs and firearms, and there was no reference to “Big Five” other than other cartels.

“I want to say I am not linked to any. Why the two would have come here and say I am linked, I don’t know why, but I am yet to hear what they are basing it on,” Mchunu said.

Earlier on yesterday, Patriotic Alliance MP Ashley Sauls said he supported Mchunu's decision to disband the PKTT after he found it added no value in the SAPS, other than a high budget not intended for investigation.

“I have come to a conclusion, based on the evidence, that what you have written in your directive was correct, not just futuristic,” Sauls said.

However Sauls said he was not convinced by Mchunu’s testimony on Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala and Brown Mogotsi.

“Your testimony there is very questionable. I am not convinced by it,” he said before urging Mchunu not to worry about his position and the public opinion.

Earlier, James noted that the minister has repeatedly criticised the PKTT of working in KwaZulu-Natal, yet he unilaterally took a decision on New Year’s Eve about the task team without consultation.

In his response, Mchunu disagreed, saying he had made clear his views at meetings with top police brass that there was a need to review the PKTT, and he said Masemola had spoken along the same lines.

He added there was even a memorandum as early as 2024-25 that was implemented in line with a new organogram that was signed this year by the national commissioner, which would have made it unnecessary for the PKTT to exist.

However, James said Masemola and Mkhwanazi testified that Mchunu had disbanded the PKTT after mistaking it for the unit that was investigating drug cartels in Gauteng.

“I deny that very strongly,” he said.

When James then asked Mchunu if he knew his “comrade” Mogotsi was linked to the attempted murder-accused tenderpreneur Matlala, the minister said it looked like the pair were close, according to testimony at the Madlanga Commission.

Mchunu again confirmed, as he did on Tuesday, that he knew Mogotsi but distanced himself from Matlala.

He said he was unaware of other persons Mogotsi was linked to in his own time.

“I was not aware, I never asked who else you speak to, what else you do what with. I have never asked him that question.”

Mchunu said he was concerned about the links between Matlala and Mogotsi.

“But I am saying I have never spoken to Matlala, and we have never met in person. It has never happened.”

He insisted that there was no basis to link him to Matlala, who deposed for him an affidavit for the parliamentary inquiry from C-Max prison.

“It is an accusation and that is partly what I am dealing with here.”

Mchunu also said him speaking to Brown did not automatically mean he spoke to the people his “comrade” knew.

THE MERCURY