By Lesedi Sibiya-Diplomatic Insider
The Minister of Police, Senzo Mchunu has spoken out against the recent allegations being made about him by Kwa-Zulu Natal Provincial Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi earlier this week, about the minister allegedly being affiliated with gangs and tampering with investigations.
Via a statement made on his X (Twitter) account, Police Minister Senzo Mchunu posted a statement which intends to clarify the allegations being made against him; “In response to the recent allegations made by Provincial Commissioner Mkhwanazi, and while respecting the President’s call for calm, the minister of police, Mr Senzo Mchunu feels it is important to clarify the following: The minister has never met Mr Matlala, has never spoken to him, nor has the minister ever requested or received anything from him.”
Mr Vusimusi Matlala, a tenderpreneur, had a lucrative contract with the police which has been terminated due to him being investigated for the murder of one Tebogo Thobejane in 2023 who was a social media influencer and socialite. Mr Matlala has been associated with the Police Minister as a means of covering up his murder investigation which Minister Mchunu denies being involved in.
Minister Mchunu is also said to be associated with businessman Oupa Brown Mogotsi, as the minister initially stated in parliament in March that he does not know Mr Mogotsi has now backtracked on his prior statements saying that he only knows Mr Mogotsi as a comrade and not as an associate.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) have expressed on their website that they intend on laying charges against Minister Mchunu for these allegations brought up against him, with DA Chief Whip Baxolile Nodada, Intelligence Spokesperson Dianne Kohler Barnard, Deputy Police Spokesperson Lisa Schickerling will be expected to lead this charge against the Police Minister at the Cape Town Central Police station on Thursday.
The charges the DA are bringing forth are on account of Minister Mchunu misleading parliament in regards to his earlier statements about not knowing Mr Mogotsi at all. “I think I picked up something that provincial commissioner Mkhwanazi is saying about some fellow. Two weeks ago, I got somebody insisting that somebody was going around saying he works with me wherever I am, he is there. I said, ‘Show me the face’. And it got to a point where he showed me his face and I told him, “I don’t know this person.” Mchunu told the portfolio committee in March in regards to his association with Mogotsi.
“In 2024, on the 29th of October, I received a phone call and a message that came from a gentleman who said to me he is a close associate to the minister and he referred to himself as a Mr Brown Mogotsi.” This is from a statement made by Commissioner Mkhwanazi to the portfolio committee on the 5th of March 2025.