South Africa’s police ministry is facing a serious storm after KwaZulu-Natal’s provincial police boss Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi accused Police Minister Senzo Mchunu of interfering in murder investigations and maintaining ties with criminal networks.

In a press briefing on Sunday, Gen Mkhwanazi laid out a series of explosive claims, including that Mchunu allegedly received financial support from a businessman linked to corruption to fund his political ambitions.

He further claimed that the minister interfered with ongoing investigations into the killings of political figures in KwaZulu-Natal by dismantling a key task team probing the murders.

The allegations centre around a special police unit that was formed in 2018 to investigate the assassinations of politicians, a trend that has haunted the province for years.

Gen Mkhwanazi said the unit had made progress and unearthed connections to senior figures, among them politicians, police officers and businesspeople tied to drug cartels  but was abruptly shut down earlier this year under the minister’s orders.

“When he dissolved the unit earlier this year, Mchunu said it was not adding value in the province, despite many cases remaining unsolved,” Mkhwanazi said.

He went on to reveal that 121 case dockets were removed from the team without authorisation from the national police commissioner, General Fannie Masemola. “These case dockets have, since March, been sitting at the head office ever since without any investigation work done on them. Five of these dockets already had instructions to [effect] arrests,” Gen Mkhwanazi said.

Among the most pointed claims was that Mchunu had close links to businessman Vusimuzi Matlala, who allegedly financed the minister’s political activities. Matlala had previously secured a lucrative contract with the police service, which was cancelled following his arrest for attempted murder in May.

Gen Mkhwanazi presented what he said were supporting documents, including text messages and payment records, to show Matlala’s financial involvement with Mchunu.

The police minister has rejected the claims, describing them as baseless. “Wild allegations,” he said in his response.

President Cyril Ramaphosa, in a brief statement, said the matter raised “grave national security concern” and was “receiving the highest priority attention”.

Meanwhile, the national police commissioner Gen Masemola said he would speak on the matter later in the week, especially in light of the recent arrest of criminal intelligence chief Lt-Gen Dumisani Khumalo. Khumalo was taken into custody last month over allegations involving fraud, corruption, and abuse of police intelligence funds, alongside six others.

The allegations and arrests have added further scrutiny to South Africa’s police service, as concerns mount over criminal influence and political interference within law enforcement.