ANC says Mchunu must engage party leadership before resuming NEC duties

The ANC national leadership on Monday distanced itself from suspended police minister Senzo Mchunu’s statement that he had resumed his duties as a member of the party’s national executive committee (NEC). Shortly after President Cyril Ramaphosa established the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry in the middle of last year, Mchunu announced that he was taking a break from his ANC NEC duties to dedicate his time to clearing his name at the commission. Mchunu is the subject of the commission’s investigation following claims by KZN Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi that he interfered with police investigations.

Mchunu raised eyebrows on Sunday after announcing that he had resumed his ANC NEC duties. “I can confirm that the Police Minister has informed the ANC that he has resumed his ANC NEC duties,” Mchunu’s spokesperson Sthembiso Mshengu said. However, ANC national spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu made it clear on Monday that the decision on whether Mchunu could resume his NEC duties rested with the party’s national leadership.

All that we know is that comrade Senzo has expressed his wish to resume his NEC duties. The procedure is that he should first engage the ANC secretary general [Fikile Mbalula] before resuming his duties. As far as I know, that engagement is yet to take place.

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So, it would be incorrect to attribute the decision to resume duties to the ANC. The ANC has not taken such a decision. The allegations against Mchunu were first raised by Mkhwanazi during a press briefing in July 2025 and later repeated before the ad hoc committee and the Madlanga Judicial Commission of Inquiry. According to Mkhwanazi, Mchunu’s links with people connected to Matlala and other alleged underworld figures raised genuine perceptions that the suspended minister decided in 2024 to disband KZN’s Political Killings Task Team (PKTT) to protect members of a criminal syndicate from arrest.

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