In a dramatic confrontation that exposed a critical lack of evidence, EFF leader Julius Malema successfully pressured suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu into a public apology for misleading Parliament over alleged threats from KZN Police Commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.
The clash occurred during Mchunu’s third appearance before an ad hoc committee investigating corruption in the criminal justice system. The minister had previously committed to providing a recording that would prove Mkhwanazi threatened to “fight back” if a letter to disband the Police Killings Task Team (PKTT) was not withdrawn.
Yet, when the moment of truth arrived, Mchunu arrived empty-handed.
A Heated Exchange and a Missing Recording
The proceedings turned heated when Malema pounced on the minister’s failure to produce the evidence. “The minister must either accept that he misled the house, or he honestly thought the recording was there,” Malema stated, framing the issue as a binary choice between incompetence and dishonesty.
The core of the contradiction was stark: last Friday, Mchunu played a recording of a conversation between his chief of staff and Mkhwanazi, but it contained no direct threats to the minister. When pressed to provide the correct recording on Tuesday, Mchunu admitted the alleged threatening part of the conversation occurred before the recording even started.
“How do you say you’ll come with a recording you never heard?” Malema challenged, accusing Mchunu of nearly misleading the entire committee. “Had we not insisted on that part being brought, this house would have been misled.”
An Apology, But Not a Retraction
Facing mounting pressure from multiple MPs, Mchunu offered a tactical retreat. He admitted to an “honest mistake,” claiming he was under the impression the crucial part was included in the audio submitted.
“I made that mistake, and I apologise,” the minister stated.
However, the apology was strictly for the failure to provide the evidence, not for the allegation itself. Mchunu defiantly maintained that the threat from Mkhwanazi was real, leaving the public with a “he-said, he-said” scenario, but now with a minister whose credibility has been formally questioned in Parliament.
For Malema and the EFF, this represents a significant political victory. They successfully painted a senior ANC figure as either reckless or deliberately deceptive, using parliamentary procedure to force a humiliating climb-down and cast a long shadow over the entire inquiry.
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