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The president will address the KZN police commissioner's recent claims.
President Cyril Ramaphosa at Sefako Makgatho Presidential Guesthouse in Pretoria on 27 March 2025. Picture: Gallo Images/Frennie Shivambu
President Cyril Ramaphosa will deliver a national address on Sunday evening in response to public remarks made by KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.
Mkhwanazi recently made damning allegations against Police Minister Senzo Mchunu and senior members of the South African Police Service (Saps), accusing them of corruption and collusion with criminal networks.
The claims have sparked widespread concern across the country.
Ramaphosa to address the nation
The Presidency, in a statement released on Thursday, noted that Ramaphosa was informed of Mkhwanazi’s explosive press briefing while he was in Brazil for a Brics summit over the weekend.
The president had committed to dealing with the issue upon his return, due to its serious implications for the country’s “national security”.
“President Ramaphosa has been seized with this matter in recent days and will, following various consultations, take the nation into his confidence at 7pm on Sunday, 13 July 2025,” the statement reads.
ALSO READ: Charges laid against Mchunu as pressure mounts on Ramaphosa to act amid national security concerns
Deputy President Paul Mashatile was questioned about the matter on Thursday following the memorial service of his predecessor and ANC veteran, David Mabuza.
“[Ramaphosa] did say that as soon as he has returned, he will be looking at these matters.
“I know that he’s currently busy with meeting with those who are affected and at the right time, he will address the nation as he said,” Mashatile told the media in Phola Sport Field, Hazyview in Mpumalanga.
“So I think let’s allow him to finalise those processes. We know that everybody in the country wants to know what is the way forward, but I think it is a prerogative of the president to have the first buy-in on that matter,” he added.
Mkhwanazi implicates Mchunu in criminal activities
Mkhwanazi alleged that Mchunu has links to controversial figures Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala and Oupa “Brown” Mogotsi.
Matlala, who was arrested recently for attempted murder, was awarded a R360 million Saps health services tender last year, which was later terminated.
Mogotsi is reportedly out on bail for a murder charge.
READ MORE: Mchunu denies ties to Cat Matlala, as tenderpreneur bust with cellphone in prison
According to Mkhwanazi, both men played a role in persuading Mchunu to disband the political killings task team after it uncovered connections between the police, a drug syndicate, and members of the judiciary.
Both the DA and the MK party have since laid criminal charges against Mchunu.
This comes after the minister told a parliamentary committee in March that he did not know Mogotsi – seemingly contradicting his recent statement in which he admitted knowing him as a “comrade, but not as an associate“.
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National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza has called on the parliamentary committees on police, justice and constitutional development, as well as the Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence, to urgently investigate Mkhwanazi’s allegations.
Mkhwanazi’s security has been beefed up following threats to his life, according to National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola.
NOW READ: Masemola denies signing any letter to disband KZN political killings task team
