Parliamentarians are demanding answers from KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi after he retracted serious allegations he made against former police minister Bheki Cele. The demand follows Mkhwanazi's withdrawal of the allegations via a text message sent to the parliamentary inquiry on Thursday.
The inquiry is currently probing allegations of corruption within the criminal justice system. Two weeks prior, Mkhwanazi testified before the inquiry, stating that Cele allegedly sent a bank account to Vusimuzi "Cat" Matlala, an attempted murder-accused tenderpreneur, and that money was subsequently deposited into that account.
On Thursday, Advocate Norman Arendse, SC, the Chief Evidence Leader, informed the inquiry that they had received a message from Mkhwanazi. The inquiry was briefly suspended to allow for clarification of the message.
Upon resumption, Arendse announced that Mkhwanazi had withdrawn the allegation. "The team that was working on the analysis got the bank account wrong, and that it is not a reference to you, so the allegation is withdrawn with due apologies from Lieutenant-General Mkhwanazi for any inconvenience or hurt caused," Arendse stated.
In response to the withdrawal, Cele simply said: "Okay".
However, the matter has not been put to rest, with several parliamentarians expressing their dissatisfaction with the manner in which the allegations were withdrawn.
EFF leader Julius Malema argued that the apology should not be directed solely at Cele, as Mkhwanazi made the allegation before the Ad Hoc Committee. Malema insisted that Mkhwanazi must formally address the committee in writing if he had made a mistake.
"We can't be members of this committee, and people come and say things here. When they retract, we hear them like any other person. It must come to us, then from then communicated publicly even to the person who was mentioned wrongly," Malema stated.
ANC MP Chief Whip Mdumiseni Ntuli echoed Malema's concerns, stating that the matter was serious and could not be dismissed with a simple text message. Ntuli raised the possibility that the message could have been fabricated, highlighting the need for a more formal retraction.
"This was a presentation that was by Lieutenant-General Mkhwanazi under oath, so it has to be treated the same way that it was when it came to us," Ntuli added.
DA MP Glynnis Breytenbach was even more critical, arguing that Mkhwanazi must personally explain why he withdrew the allegation, given the reputational damage it had caused. "He has done a lot of reputational damage; it can't be undone by a little note," Breytenbach said.
Committee Chairperson, Soviet Lekganyane, stated that Mkhwanazi would need to amend his sworn statement, and the committee would decide whether a public apology was necessary.
"It would be very good to have in a forum like this one where such statements were made, so that questions can be asked. If he has to be directed to apologise, this is accordingly directed and that apology served to General Cele and South Africans as a whole," Lekganyane said.
Arendse confirmed that his colleague, Lerato Zikalala, had already informed Mkhwanazi that he needed to address the committee in writing. Arendse explained that he raised the issue before members had the opportunity to question Cele, to avoid further damage should Cele release a media statement on the matter.
Meanwhile, Cele took the opportunity to clarify his interaction with Mkhwanazi regarding a job offer for another top officer. Mkhwanazi had testified that Cele attempted to move Crime Intelligence head Dumisani Khumalo from the SAPS to protect a Lieutenant-General Khan from investigation and disciplinary proceedings by offering him a post in Gauteng. Mkhwanazi claimed he had not spoken to Cele since that encounter.
Cele explained that Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi had approached him about recruiting someone to lead the Crime Warden initiative after his term as minister. Cele said he asked Mkhwanazi if he could speak to Major-General Khumalo, a district commander in KZN, about the job offer, but Khumalo ultimately declined the position.
"There is nothing sinister in recruiting people… I don’t know what the big deal was about it," Cele stated.
Cele also clarified that he had spoken to Mkhwanazi after that incident, specifically regarding a murder in Newcastle in June. "It is not like he never spoke to me. No, we did speak," Cele added.
The conflicting accounts and the controversy surrounding Mkhwanazi's retracted allegations have raised serious questions about the integrity of the inquiry and the credibility of the witnesses involved. The committee's decision on how to proceed will be crucial in ensuring that the truth is uncovered and that those responsible for any wrongdoing are held accountable.
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