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Former president Jacob Zuma and the MK party are seeking to invalidate Ramaphosa’s decision to place Mchunu on special leave.
President Cyril Ramaphosa and former president Jacob Zuma. Pictures: Nigel Sibanda, Gallo Images
The Constitutional Court has set down a date to hear the MK party’s urgent application against President Cyril Ramaphosa to place police minister Senzo Mchunu on leave.
Former president Jacob Zuma and the MK party are seeking to invalidate Ramaphosa’s decision to place Mchunu on a leave of absence and appoint Wits law professor Firoz Cachalia as acting police minister.
Court date
They are also challenging Ramaphosa’s establishment of a judicial commission of inquiry to investigate allegations of corruption in the police.
“Applicants must file heads of argument by Sunday, 27 July 2025, at 14h00. Respondents must file heads of argument by Monday, 28 July 2025, at 14h00,” the court directed.
The matter has been set down for Wednesday, 30 July at 11am.
ALSO READ: Zuma says Ramaphosa has no constitutional power to suspend Mchunu
Allegations
KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) provincial police commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi made explosive allegations during a media briefing this month, accusing Mchunu and deputy national commissioner for crime detection Shadrack Sibiya of political interference in police operations.
In Ramaphosa’s answering affidavit on Wednesday, the president argued that the constitution gives him “a wide berth as to how to deal with ministers”.
“It is clear that I am empowered to place a minister on special leave when there are serious allegations… so that those allegations can be properly investigated,” said Ramaphosa.
However, Zuma argues there’s no express constitutional power allowing Ramaphosa to impose special leave on Mchunu.
ALSO READ: Ramaphosa motion of no confidence: MK party requests secret ballot
Zuma challenge
Zuma said there are details in Ramaphosa’s affidavit that Mchunu will not return as minister of police after the commission of inquiry.
“There is nothing said in the president’s affidavit which justified placing minister Mchunu on ‘special leave’ and thereby causing him to retain his ministerial title, salary and other perks or privileges at the expense of the long-suffering taxpayer.”
Feroz Cachalia
Zuma said Ramaphosa “openly dodges” the clear distinction between the power to appoint a minister and the different power to appoint an acting minister.
“The two are plainly not the same. The obfuscatory reference to the credentials of Prof Cachalia is nothing but deflection. For the record, no issue is taken against the professor’s credentials. The issue is whether he was constitutionally qualified to be appointed by the president. The answer is that he was not.”
Zuma also challenged Mchunu’s version of events, portraying it as “evasive and legally flawed”, saying the minister’s affidavit is a “masterclass in evasion – it skirts the core allegations and offers no constitutional basis for the executive’s conduct”.
ALSO READ: Here’s why Zuma’s MK party wants Ramaphosa removed in ‘urgent’ motion of no confidence
