Suspended police minister Senzo Mchunu allegedly interfered with investigations into the cases of ward councillors, coerced a witness to lie to the Madlanga commission and tried to implicate the crime intelligence boss in the killing of Sindiso Magaqa. This is among the evidence that was heard at the Madlanga commission on Monday when public proceedings resumed. The commission is investigating allegations of criminality, political interference and corruption in the criminal justice system.
The commission heard from KwaZulu-Natal acting deputy police commissioner Maj-Gen Anthony Gopaul that after ANC councillor Phendukani Mabhida was gunned down in February 2025, Mchunu questioned why the matter was investigated by the political killings task team (PKTT). “I received a call from the minister on February 5. The call was about what transpired in the murder of Mabhida,” said Gopaul.
“I briefed the minister. The minister told me I need to keep him abreast of the investigation. I told the minister I was not investigating the murder, as it was being investigated by the PKTT.
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“He asked why the PKTT was investigating the case, as he had instructed it be ‘investigated by the station where the crime occurred’,” said Gopaul. He was asked not to detail the events of the murder to prevent trauma for the victim’s family. He asked why the PKTT was investigating the case, as he had instructed it to be ‘investigated by the station where the crime occurred.
Gopaul said the second interaction was when Mchunu asked about the docket of a case involving MK Party councillor Doeshie Govender, whom he alleged the community had complained about. Gopaul said the reason the police had submitted to the minister’s demands was that,he was their boss. Shortly after Gopaul concluded his evidence, another police officer, who can only be referred to as Witness E, told the commission how Mchunu tried to implicate crime intelligence head Lt-Gen Dumisani Khumalo and former police minister Bheki Cele in Magaqa’s murder case. Magaqa, a former ANC Youth League secretary-general, was a councillor in the Umzimkhulu local municipality when he was shot in 2017.
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