WATCH | Nkabinde returns to Ad Hoc Committee after admitting to 'thumb-sucking' evidence
Suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu's Aide Cedrick Nkabinde Recalled to Parliamentary Committee After Inconsistent Testimony
Image: Phando Jikelo : RSA Parliament
Suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu’s Chief of Staff, Nkabinde, has returned to testify before parliament’s Ad Hoc Committee investigating alleged criminal infiltration of the police after being removed from the proceedings last week for providing inconsistent statements.
The committee was established in response to serious allegations aired by KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.
Mkhwanazi claimed that a notorious criminal syndicate, allegedly protected by Mchunu and linked to senior police officials, including Nkabinde himself, interfered in police matters and was a central figure in the Minister's alleged collusion with drug cartels and political hitmen to disband the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT).
Last week’s Thursday session came to an abrupt halt when members of parliament challenged Nkabinde’s testimony, highlighting contradictions between an affidavit he submitted and the account he was giving verbally.
Nkabinde spent the morning testifying on several issues, including how former police minister Bheki Cele allegedly used a whistleblower report from IPID to block the contract renewal of ex-IPID head Robert McBride, and on the relationship between Mchunu, who disbanded the PKTT, and controversial information broker Brown Mogotsi.
During questioning by Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema, Nkabinde was pressed on discrepancies in the dates contained in his affidavit and whether he had his device available when drafting the document.
Nkabinde candidly admitted, “No, dates I was thumb-sucking.”
Malema responded sharply: “If key dates in your affidavit are thumb-sucked, how can this committee proceed based on such unreliable evidence?”
Nkabinde was sent packing and instructed to rework his testimony and return to parliament prepared.
The committee’s investigation continues, with MPs demanding greater clarity and accountability from all witnesses invited to testify.
thabo.makwakwa@inl.co.za
IOL Politics