EFF leader Julius Malema says KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi is sensitive in that he thinks he can’t be criticised and that no one must say anything good about any police officer except him.
Malema made the remarks during an interview with Clement Manyatela on Radio 702 on Thursday morning.
The red berets leader has been criticised on social media platforms for his public criticism of Mkhwanazi.
However, the party leader said no one is above criticism.
“Mkhwanazi, firstly, is very sensitive. He thinks he can’t be criticised or that no-one must say anything good about any other police officer except himself. And that has nothing to do with what he has presented. I will deal with those facts when it comes to the ad hoc committee. I’ll participate objectively, and that’s me,” he said.
This comes after Mkhwanazi said that before the establishment of the Madlanga Commission he had met Malema through the head of counter-intelligence in the SAPS, Major-Gen Feroz Khan, who had attended a dinner party they were all at.
During his final appearance at the ad hoc committee, Mkhwanazi accused Khan of causing “a lot of issues” within the force and being behind problems experienced by police watchdog the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid).
However, Malema said, Mkhwanazi “just throws the EFF into the space where it’s not necessary".
“Gen Khan does not need to be defined through the EFF. It’s Gen Khan who is employed in SAPS, and this is his level.
“He (Mkhwanazi) then goes to the ad hoc committee, he speaks very badly of me, and I’m not there.”
At the time of Mkhwanazi’s final appearance at the ad hoc committe, Malema said he had taken leave as he had a bereavement in the family.
“I’m not at the ad hoc committee [and] he says things about me which he didn’t say when I was there,” Malema said.
Malema accused Mkhwanazi of often addressing the committee “in a condescending manner, like a boss”.
“We will not be pushed around by a police officer when we have not broken the law.
“He says, ‘some of you here are praising Senthumule, [Lt-Gen Hilda Senthumule], saying she can be a national commissioner.’ She can be. She’s highly qualified.
“And I never said she should be. I said to her, ‘look at your credentials, they get destroyed in a moment because you interacted with a criminal ... but if we are to look for a female national commissioner, you stand a very good chance, but you mess it up by entangling yourself with criminals.’
“And I spoke well about Senthumule, that she can be a national commissioner and not him. That becomes an offence, because if you don’t speak about him as a national commissioner, he takes offence,” Malema said.
He said he had also criticised Mkhwanazi for the lack of progress in the high-profile AKA murder investigation.
“Sensitive Mkhwanazi couldn’t take that. He called Khan and asked for a meeting with me.
“Khan is a comrade well known to me. I knew him from the ANC days. Khan said, ‘there is this guy who is asking to see you.’ I said, ‘Okay, that’s fine. If you are comfortable and you know him, you can come and we meet.’ He came with Khan. That’s when he gave me a briefing about AKA’s case,“ he said.
Malema said Mkhwanazi was finalising the AKA murder charges in secret to prevent former police minister Bheki Cele interfering with or compromising the evidence.
“I didn’t want anything. Why would I call him for a meeting? I didn’t want anything from him. He wanted the meeting, I speak facts.
“He must never use the EFF, Julius Malema or CIC as a way to insult General Khan.
“He says, ‘I met Malema through Khan’, suggesting some impropriety, and then leaves the sentence there. Once you don’t tell the full truth, it amounts to a lie.
“Why are you hiding that you called Khan and spoke very badly about your minister and your national commissioner to me? He must know I’m not scared of a policeman,” said Malema.
Sowetan
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