Cyril Ramaphosa appoints Gwede Mantashe as acting Police Minister

President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed Gwede Mantashe, the current Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources, as the Acting Minister of Police.

Ramaphosa made the announcement on Tuesday evening, stating that Mantashe will oversee police matters while retaining his existing portfolio in mineral and petroleum resources. 

The appointment, effective immediately, comes as part of a transitional arrangement until the anticipated assumption of office by Professor Firoz Cachalia at the beginning of August.

Professor Cachalia, who has served in various educational roles, is set to succeed Mantashe at the helm of police leadership following his retirement from the University of the Witwatersrand at the end of this month. 

Cachalia's appointment, announced during a televised address to the nation on Sunday, follows KwaZulu-Natal provincial police commissioner, Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi alleging that a powerful criminal syndicate had infiltrated the country’s law enforcement, intelligence agencies, and even the judiciary.

Mkhwanazi accused Police Minister Senzo Mchunu of interfering in sensitive investigations and colluding with a murder accused businessman to disband a task team probing political killings in KwaZulu-Natal.

In response, Ramaphosa placed Mchunu on special leave and announced the formation of a judicial commission of inquiry, to be led by Acting Deputy Chief Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga. 

The commission is expected to investigate the alleged suppression of investigations, interference by senior officials, and the complicity of government members in organised crime networks.

Mchunu has been at the centre of controversy for the past week after Mkhwanazi accused him of being entangled in a powerful syndicate linked to drug cartels and influential business interests.

In explosive allegations, Mkhwanazi accused Lieutenant-General Shadrack Sibiya, the deputy national commissioner for crime detection, of colluding with Brown Mogotsi, an information dealer from the North West, and Mchunu, in an alleged plot to disband the KwaZulu-Natal political killings task team that has been at the centre of recent law enforcement efforts.

Mkhwanazi accused Mchunu of disbanding the task team in March, effectively withdrawing 121 active dockets, many of which were linked to politically motivated killings. 

He presented WhatsApp messages, South African Police Service (SAPS) documents, and cellphone records, alleging a coordinated effort to dismantle the unit.

Mchunu, in a December 2024 letter to National Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Fannie Masemola, claimed the unit had “outlived its usefulness.”

In a decisive step, Ramaphosa not only announced the establishment of a Judicial Commission of Inquiry, but he also placed Mchunu on special leave.

On Tuesday, Masemola announced that Sibiya has been requested to take a leave of absence until investigations have been completed.

sinenhlanhla.masilela@iol.co.za

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