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Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni.
Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni says the government wants the Commission of Inquiry into allegations of crime syndicates and collusion with some police members to be fast-tracked. She says this is for the security of the people of this country.
Ntshavheni was briefing the media in Parliament after tabling the Budget Vote of the State Security.
The minister says the government is prioritizing the completion of probing these allegations. She says that’s the reason President Cyril Ramaphosa has given it a short time frame.
The commission follows an explosive media briefing by KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner, Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi that implicated senior police officers and Minister Senzo Mchunu in criminal activities.
“Thats why the president has given a shorter timeline to the Commission of Inquiry to report and to make recommendations whilst it’s doing its work. And that must give South Africans the comfort that their security is the priority for this government,” says Ntshavheni.
Delivering her Budget Vote earlier, Ntshavheni assured MPs that national security agency structures will comply with the inquiry.
“As I table this vote, we want to commit that SSA and all the national intelligence structures that are responsible for … we will avail ourselves to the Judge Madlanga Commission of Inquiry as announced by the president,” Ntshavheni added.
But some members were not satisfied by her assurance.
“Following the press conference by the KZN Police Commissioner, General Mkhwanazi, the Speaker of the National Assembly has requested the JSCI to consider, on an urgent basis, in terms of our mandate the allegations made, the implications of those to our national security,” says Sylvia Isaacs, Chairperson of the Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence.
“Now these allegations are a red flag of a deep state. Disturbingly, the moral and questionable president delivered a carefully worded statement in defence of the CRC bank statements in Phala Phala,” says Edward Ntshingila, MKP MP.
“While the State Security Agency is imploding, the State Security Agency opened the window for expertise to fly out. Back in November last year, many insiders came to me and told me and others with claims that the minister in gathering of senior SSA officials and said anyone over 50 must take early retirement,” says Dianne Kohler, DA MP.
The minister defended the president on his approach in establishing a commission of inquiry.
“Because aspersions have casted, we expect the president not to follow due process. The president has instituted a commission to follow…not only to follow due process in terms of the allegations made against the minister of police but also to unravel what are other things that have not been said by General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi,” Ntshavheni explains.
The minister has also revealed that the work of implementing the recommendations of the Zondo Commission is still in progress.
Video: Minister in the Presidency answers questions at post-Budget briefing
