The ANC and Patriotic Alliance (PA) have opposed the findings linking suspended police minister Senzo Mchunu to alleged criminal kingpin Vusimuzi "Cat" Matlala. They said the evidence before the police ad hoc committee did not establish a relationship between the two.
The EFF, however, said the interactions between Mchunu, alleged political fixer Brown Mogotsi and Matlala raised serious concerns about institutional integrity. It said the committee did not require definitive proof of a corrupt relationship to make a damning finding.
"Mr Mogotsi's alleged proximity to the minister, his communications with Mr Matlala and the use of information relating to the PKTT, dockets and SAPS-related matters raise legitimate questions about whether private influence was exercised or represented through access to public office," the EFF said.
The ad hoc committee was set to finalise its report by 10 September, after which it will be tabled in the National Assembly for a debate.
Testimony before the committee mainly focused on the political governance structure of the SAPS, limited to Mchunu's conduct and the controversial decision to disband the political killings task team.
KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi has accused Mchunu of disbanding the unit at the behest of criminal cartels after the task team raided the houses of Matlala and associate Katiso "KT" Molefe — the alleged leaders of the Big Five Cartel.
The ANC and the PA said there was no evidence to link Mchunu to Matlala. "It would be a grave miscarriage of justice if we were to say, without any evidence of a relationship and interaction between Minister Mchunu and Mr Matlala, we want to … make a finding … that they colluded and worked together," the ANC's Khusela Sangoni, said.
Mchunu and Matlala have denied knowing each other. Mchunu rejected assertions that he ordered Mogotsi to solicit funds from Matlala which were used to fund flight tickets for ANC delegates to the January 8 conference in Cape Town.
Sangoni said Mchunu was not at the ANC's January 8 statement event.
uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK Party) MP David Skosana and Democratic Alliance Damien Klopper supported the EFF's position that the evidence pointed to a relationship between Mchunu and Matlala.
ActionSA MP Dereleen James and PA MP Ashley Sauls stated, however, there was insufficient evidence to link the two men.
Sauls said Mchunu was the person who had initiated an investigation into Matlala's Medicare24 contract.
EFF MP Leigh-Ann Mathys said that without Mchunu, Matlala and Mogotsi were civilians with no institutional influence over the police.
She said the committee could not rule out the possibility that Mchunu might have engaged Matlala "at some point to fund his presidential campaign and when that was not working out he decided to pull the plug on [the Medicare24 contract]".
Sangoni said the evidence showed only that Mogotsi had misrepresented himself as Mchunu's associate.
"Let's stay away from suppositions that would bring into this report things that were never put before this committee," she added.
Sauls similarly warned against creating a link between Mchunu and Matlala without evidence.
"What evidence do we have for that?" he asked. "What is factual and what was put before us is that it was Minister Mchunu who called upon the audit team to audit this contract, then an irregularity was found and when it was reported back to him, the minister then gave a directive that the contract must be cancelled."
Sauls said the disputes in the SAPS had started when the contract was cancelled, eventually leading Matlala to approach former police minister Bheki Cele and Mkhwanazi for assistance with it.
Former KZN Hawks head Lesetja Senona had organised a meeting between Matlala and Mkhwanazi. At that meeting, Mkhwanazi said Matlala acted as a whistleblower and informed him about the Big Five cartel and regular payments made to deputy police commissioner Shadrack Sibiya by taxi boss Jotham "King Mswazi" Msibi.
Matlala denied that. He told the Madlanga commission that Mkhwanazi had known about the Big Five cartel and payments made to Sibiya.
Committee chairperson Soviet Lekganyane cautioned the ad hoc committee against making findings that were not supported by evidence presented during the inquiry.
"We didn't get any evidence about the relationship between Mr Matlala and Minister Mchunu," he said.
The DA, however, said the absence of communication between Matlala and Mchunu did not remove concerns that an intermediary, such as Mogotsi, could have acted or received funds on the minister's behalf.
The committee concluded that the evidence did not establish a corrupt agreement between Mchunu, Matlala and Mogotsi. However, it found that the R360 million Medicare24 contract was characterised by serious irregularities and failures in the bid adjudication process. The report also said the contract had a "fronting-related feature [in] the commercial arrangement".
The DA said Mchunu's close relationship with Mogotsi warranted further scrutiny than was possible during the inquiry.
Mchunu and Mogotsi have acknowledged meeting while working on a case involving the Independent Police Investigative Directorate.
The MK Party said Mchunu had afforded Mogotsi "extraordinary access and influence without providing a satisfactory explanation for the nature of their relationship".
"The MKP submitted that the committee finds that Mr Brown Mogotsi exercised influence disproportionate to any official role performed by him and that this created a perception of improper influence over policing matters and executive decision-making," the party said.
Sangoni rejected that, saying there was no evidence that Mogotsi had influenced Mchunu.
Mathys countered that an expert witness had testified that Mogotsi had once been invited to Mchunu's home office to discuss a mining protest, demonstrating Mogotsi's influence over the minister.
Sangoni said the meeting was instead about Mchunu seeking Mogotsi's assistance in organising the mining community for a meeting.
"There was no evidence ever presented to us that states that Brown Mogotsi would say to the minister: 'This and that must be done,' and it was done, which would translate to influence," Sangoni said.
Skosana said Mchunu had initially denied knowing Mogotsi despite evidence that they had met and had both been involved in the CR17 presidential campaign.
Sauls added that although the pair later conceded that they were "comrades", that did not constitute influence over Mchunu.
In its draft report, the committee said there was not enough evidence implicating national police commissioner Fannie Masemola for fraud and corruption in the contract. Masemola has been added as Matlala's 16th co-accused for contravening the Financial Management Act as the SAPS chief financial officer.
"The evidence does not establish that he received a benefit, acted corruptly or knowingly facilitated Mr Matlala's commercial interests," the report stated.