ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has revealed police minister Senzo Mchunu was a no-show at the party’s national working committee (NWC) meeting on Monday.
According to Mbalula, Mchunu sent an apology excusing himself because of the special leave he has been placed under by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
However, he has been mandated that the leave applies only to his role in the cabinet and will not affect his responsibilities at Luthuli House, the ANC's headquarters.
“He did not attend the ANC NWC meeting and said his absence was because of the special leave he is under. However, I explained to him that the leave of absence does not affect the ANC. His political standing in the ANC remains. Comrade Senzo is a member of the ANC, he is a member of the national executive committee (NEC) and NWC,” he said.
“There is no curtailment on the roles. We expected him to attend the meeting yesterday. The leave of absence is related to his point of deployment. We will straighten up those issues, he will come to meetings. He must execute his tasks as a leader in the ANC.”
Despite the controversy surrounding Mchunu, he has not yet come before the party’s integrity commission which deals with matters of this nature.
“There have been no interactions between comrade Senzo and the integrity commission. Such an interaction will happen. Once the integrity commission has engaged with the individuals, it will present [its findings] to the NEC, which will deliberate on the matters and communicate to the affected comrades.”
As it relates to the National Assembly, Mbalula said it would be business as usual for Mchunu.
“Ministers are members of parliament. Mchunu will work in parliament to execute the duties he is expected to perform as an MP.”
Mbalula defended Ramaphosa’s course of action, saying it was a necessary move by the head of state.
“He is on special leave with immediate effect. The commission can go on with its work. It has powers to take decisions about individuals as and how they are affected by the subject in the process of conducting its business. That’s how powerful it is.”
The secretary-general insisted the explosive allegations levelled by KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi have not cast a shadow over the party’s perception of him because he has raised issues, “bravely so”.
“Only a credible, competent process can deal with the matters in detail. If we prejudice the process and pass judgement, without any solution on the table, we can’t do that. He said many things that we do not have the capacity to argue with or fight him about.”
Backing the decision taken by Ramaphosa, he said it was the right approach to probe Mkhwanazi’s allegations.
“Regarding of where the ANC stands with Mkhwanazi, he is a officer of the law who has raised issues that are going to be attended to by a judicial inquiry. We’ve got no issues with Mkhwanazi as the ANC. Police have confirmed security has been increased around him.”
Despite concerns raised about the number of commissions established under Ramaphosa’s tenure, Mbalula said he believes commissions are here to stay.
“This will not be the end of commission. They are necessitated by substance and material conditions. All the people who are criticising provide no alternative. The president has responded, maybe they thought that he will not. There are many things said and we are not guided by that. We must be guided with the principle of how we intervene when we are confronted with matters like this which affect the security standing of our country.
“The pronouncements of the president and the establishment of the judicial commission of inquiry remain and we urge everybody to support the process because it will take us into understanding the substance of the issues raised by Mkhwanazi.”
Mbalula said the commission is expected to bolster the government’s law enforcement efforts and inform how to respond to these matters.
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