ANC grants Mchunu’s request to step aside after initial refusal

The ANC has accepted police minister Senzo Mchunu’s offer to relinquish his duties in the national executive committee (NEC) and national working committee (NWC) after having first denied his offer.

ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula announced during a media briefing on Tuesday that the NWC recommended that Mchunu’s request for special leave from the activities of the ANC’s top structures be granted.

This comes after TimesLIVE reported Mbalula declined Mchunu’s offer to step aside. In a statement published by TimesLIVE, Mchunu said he had expressed willingness to take leave from activities of the ANC NEC and NWC to Mbalula but was advised by the ANC that his special leave pertains to cabinet responsibilities.

Mchunu is facing a litany of allegations after KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi’s claims that he is allegedly involved with a criminal syndicate that has infiltrated law enforcement and intelligence services. Two committees are investigating the veracity of the claims.

Mbalula quoted the ANC constitution, which provides that a member, office-bearer or public representative who has been indicted to appear in a court of law on a charge of corruption or other serious crime must immediately step aside pending the finalisation of her or his case.

Mbalula said Mchunu was acting with self-consciousness by voluntarily stepping aside despite the ANC guidelines.

He said Mchunu had presented himself to the party’s integrity commission, and the party had been waiting for that process to conclude before making a decision.

Mbalula said Mchunu faced many allegations, which needed him to face them with clarity. Mchunu had taken a decision that many wouldn’t take, and the party needed to grant his offer to step aside.

“He is not a subject of the ANC policy. If I am a member of an organisation and you are in [his] situation, you are on leave in government, and you do work for the ANC, whatever you say is attributed to the ANC. In relation to the proceedings of the ad hoc committee [in parliament] and the Madlanga commission. So the best option for a party such as ours is to allow that process to conclude and give the comrade that opportunity in terms of what he has asked for to be on special leave. That is what we have done, and that is what we have granted.”

Mchunu said a few days after the allegations by Mkhwanazi in July, he wrote to the ANC integrity commission requesting to appear before it to state his case.

“I subsequently made part one of my presentation. We then agreed to continue with part two after the proceedings of the Madlanga commission. I am co-operating fully with the integrity commission, and my comprehensive written submission is at an advanced stage,” he said.

TimesLIVE