South Africa's Ramaphosa appoints Indian-origin activist as Minister of Police

Johannesburg: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday appointed veteran Indian-origin activist Firoz Cachalia as Minister of Police after putting the current minister, Senzo Mchunu, on special leave.

Ramaphosa made the announcement in a nationally broadcast address in the wake of serious allegations by a top police commissioner that Mchunu had colluded with criminal cartel leaders.

Lt Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Commissioner of the South African Police Service, shocked the country last Sunday with a nationally televised media briefing in which he made a wide range of allegations, including that Mchunu and other high-ranking police officers were involved in aiding and abetting criminals.

South Africans were waiting all week to hear how Ramaphosa would address the situation, which he promised he would do after his return from the BRICS Summit in Brazil last week.

The president announced a Commission of Inquiry, which would look into the allegations and provide an interim report within three months. Acting Deputy Chief Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga will head the Inquiry.

“Lt Gen Mkhwanazi alleged that the Minister of Police allegedly interfered with sensitive police investigations and colluded with business people, including a murder accused, to disband the Political Killings Task Team based in KwaZulu-Natal," Ramaphosa said.

The president said that these allegations raised serious concerns around the constitution, the rule of law and national security.

“These allegations, if proven true, threaten to undermine the confidence of South Africans in the ability of the South African Police Service to protect them and to effectively fight crime and corruption,” he said.

He said that he had decided to put Mchunu on a leave of absence with immediate effect, while also announcing that Cachalia would take up the position on August 1 after completing his tenure as a professor of law at the University of the Witwatersrand.

Hailing from a family steeped in the struggle against apartheid, Cachalia made an active and public contribution to the opposition movement to Apartheid until the transition to democracy and subsequently to the consolidation of democratic institutions.

He also played an important role in the multi-party negotiations that led to the first democratic elections in 1994 which installed Nelson Mandela as President in 1994 after 27 years as a political prisoner.

Cachalia represented the Transvaal Indian Congress at the talks, termed Codesa.

After 1994, Cachalia held a wide range of positions in government, including as provincial minister for Economic Development in the province of Gauteng, South Africa’s economic hub. He later also served as provincial minister of Community Safety.

Cachalia also served as Speaker in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature.

His leadership roles have included positions on the Board of Helen Joseph Hospital; Mahatma Gandhi Trust; Ahmed Kathrada Trust and Kgalema Motlanthe Trust.

Cachalia is currently also the chairperson of the National Anti-Corruption Advisory Council.

Cachalia’s appointment has been welcomed by NGOs fighting corruption.

Shan Balton, Executive Director of the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, named after Mandela’s fellow prisoner and close friend, said Ramaphosa’s selection of Cachalia was a good one.

“He has a solid history of public service and is not new to what is required from this post.

Besides having gained an in-depth understanding of corruption and what is required to deal with it as head of the National Advisory Committee Against Corruption for the past few years, he has no baggage of allegations of corruption against him and has a solid academic background,” Balton told PTI.