‘I could not refuse call to serve’: new acting police minister Firoz Cachalia

University of the Witwatersrand professor Firoz Cachalia said the offer by President Cyril Ramaphosa was one he could not refuse.

“Given a responsibility to serve the country on a difficult set of issues, you can’t really refuse. I said 'yes' immediately because I suppose to refuse was not an option.”

The unassuming 66-year-old recalled how an evening of downtime with his family quickly turned into a call from the country’s number one citizen to step into the shoes of embattled police minister Senzo Mchunu.

“From past experience, I know that these situations are quite phonetic. There’s a lot of consultation that has to take place, including with myself. Because it was a Sunday, my phone was charging upstairs and I was watching a lot of sport. I was watching Wimbledon with my wife.

“I heard the phone ringing, but I ignored it. Someone from the presidency got in touch with my brother, judge Cachalia, and asked him to contact me. He tried and eventually got hold of my wife, who happened to be sitting next to me in the lounge watching the tennis. He informed me that the president has been trying to get hold of me on an urgent basis.”

Mchunu was placed on special leave after explosive allegations by KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkwanazi tying him to undue relationships with dodgy characters of the criminal underworld, as well as interference within state security and the police.

The Wits University professor said he was not shocked to learn that Ramaphosa was looking for him. However, his immediate thoughts were that the conversation had to do with an advisory council he serves on.

I’m doing some reading, some thinking, and I hope to be able to consolidate what needs to be done. I think it’s important to think carefully about the next steps, preparation is going to be very important and I’m currently in that phase.

—  Prof Firoz Cachalia

“My immediate thought was that it was about the anti-corruption advisory council. We had been engaged in that work and I speculated what it could be about and thought it could only be about that. I took the call from the president five minutes later around 6pm, when they eventually got hold of me.”

In his address to the nation on Sunday night, the president said Cachalia’s appointment would only be effective from August.

Ramaphosa would appoint someone within his cabinet to take over the position for the remaining weeks in July.

Cachalia told TimesLIVE Premium that he asked for this reprieve so that he could conclude his tenure at the research institute based at the Wits law school.

“I was on a contract with the Mandela Institute; I had been a director there for the past five years. My contract was coming to an end. The president did not know that, I had to bring it to his attention and indicated that it just so happened that my contract at the institute within the law school was coming to an end.

“I said to him that if he’s making the appointment, then he should consider making the appointment with effect from the first of August, because that’s when I officially retire from the institute.”

Despite having grand plans to restore the independence and confidence in the South African policing ministry, the professor said he would integrate himself within the space before sharing his “strong views”.

“I’m doing some reading, some thinking, and I hope to be able to consolidate what needs to be done. I think it’s important to think carefully about the next steps, preparation is going to be very important and I’m currently in that phase.

“I have some strong views and opinions, but I am in the process of consulting. I am told that there will be a retreat of the criminal justice cluster in early August. I am in the process of thinking about what my approach should be and what I should prioritise. I have some strong views, but it is probably better to go through the process which I am undertaking currently and I should be able to hit the ground running in two weeks' time.”

Cachalia is no stranger to the sector, having served as a member of the president’s national anti-corruption advisory council for years now.

In May last year, the president received a report advising him on measures required to stabilise the police service and clean up crime intelligence. The report is said to be gathering dust, with no resolutions taken from recommendations tabled by the council.