'This country was going to turn into flames,' the ANC secretary-general said on Saturday.
ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has warned that South Africa could have descend into chaos if President Cyril Ramaphosa did not take decisive action in response to allegations made by KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.
On 6 July, Mkhwanazi held a media briefing that shook the nation, accusing politicians and high-ranking police officers of meddling in law enforcement operations and colluding with criminal syndicates.
In response, the president established the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry, while Parliament set up an ad hoc committee to investigate Mkhwanazi’s claims.
Mbalula on ANC’s support for Madlanga commission
Speaking at the ANC Mpumalanga provincial general council (PGC) at Mbombela Stadium on Saturday, Mbalula said the party backed the establishment of the Madlanga commission, despite criticism that previous commissions of inquiry had produced little results.
“Many people will say, why didn’t the president just act? Why did he have to establish a commission? Now I want to explain why,” he said.
Mbalula warned that Mkhwanazi’s allegations could have triggered unrest similar to the July 2021 riots, which claimed more than 300 lives, had Ramaphosa not acted.
“On the 6th of July, we wake up, there’s a policeman addressing the nation and says here are the allegations.
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“There are many forces in society that wanted to elevate that thing to a form of revolt against the democratic state, like it happened during the Jacob Zuma unrest.
“You remember? They said they don’t know why Zuma is arrested and then they brought the country down,” the ANC secretary-general told delegates.
“If the president of the country, according to the ANC, were to treat that matter anyhow as a by-the-way issue, this country was going to turn into flames,” Mbalula continue.
Read Mbalula’s full speech here:
‘Our people are not fools’
Mbalula emphasised that the ANC recognised the gravity of the claims, suggesting that Mkhwanazi’s allegations could have posed an even greater threat.
“The president took a decision in his own wisdom, legally guided and as the ANC, we supported that because why the matter Mkhwanazi was raising was important.
“I explained it on behalf of the NEC that the things that he is raising border on this country becoming a banana republic and the fall of the rule of law.
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“If somebody wakes up and says the state is infiltrated by criminal cartels, tsotsis, comrades and deployees in government, and you put a blind eye on that, our people are not fools.
“They were going to revolt in the streets against the democratic state saying this government doesn’t care about us and that’s why we supported Matamela [Ramaphosa] to establish the Madlanga commission.
“That is the political context as opposed to those who say there are other mechanisms that could have been there at the disposal of the president.”
Watch Mbalula’s address below:
Upholding Legal Principles
Mbalula stressed that South Africans deserved answers and clarified that the commission’s establishment did not imply guilt for those implicated, including Police Minister Senzo Mchunu – who is currently on special leave.
“The principle of the law that the other side must be listened to exists for everyone.
“I want you to be clear about it so that you don’t get hijacked in beer halls by drunkards who are telling you that this decision is detrimental. It will be detrimental if ever we allow ourselves to be found on the wrong side.”
He cautioned against premature judgment while investigations were ongoing.
“There are people who want to debate what is being said and they are not in the commission and they want to pass judgement on every other matter that can this thing some of them be true, and the commission is mandated to deal with those things.”
Mbalula added that the ANC was aware of attempts to paint the party as corrupt for individual actions.
“Our approach is that let evidence lead. ANC deployees must understand, follow and defend policy.
“Where individuals are found to have acted outside the parameters of the constitution and the law, the law must take its course. Where systems fail, we must fix them.”
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