WE WANT ANSWERS

The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal said the Police Ministry will have to go to the Madlanga Commission on behalf of the late Ambassador Nathi Mthethwa, to respond to allegations that he interfered in the work of police.

Mthethwa, a former Police and Sports, Arts and Culture Minister was found dead at the Hyatt Hotel in Porte Maillot in Paris two weeks ago after he went missing for a day - he is believed to have died in tragic circumstances after falling from the 22nd floor of the hotel. 

Mthethwa was expected to be given a right of reply after he was mentioned in testimony by KwaZulu-Natal provincial Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.

Mkhwanazi told the commission that during his tenure as an acting national Police Commissioner in 2011, Mthethwa in his capacity as a Police Minister, attempted to block the prosecution of the then-Crime Intelligence head Lieutenant-General Richard Mdluli. 

Mdluli was accused of abuse of state resources and corruption involving the Crime Intelligence Unit’s slush funds. According to Mkhwanazi, Mthethwa also ordered him to stop taking disciplinary action against Mdluli, which Mkhwanazi described as the worst interference he experienced in the work of the police.

ANC provincial spokesperson Fanle Sibisi, speaking at Mthethwa's funeral on Sunday in KwaMbonambi, said the allegations against Mthethwa must be responded to.

Sibisi said that the allegations against him would be responded to as they were not against him personally.

He said: “It will be either someone currently in the Police Ministry or someone senior who worked with him during his tenure, but the allegations against him will be responded to,” said Sibisi.

Mthethwa,58, was buried in his home at KwaMbonambi, outside Richards Bay north-east of the province after his funeral service.

Delivering the eulogy, President Cyril Ramaphosa praised the former Minister and described him as one of the bravest and most principled  members of the party.

He said it was Mthethwa’s bravery and principle which saw him being selected to be part of Operation Vula, the ANC’s underground plot to topple the apartheid government during the armed struggle. 

Mthethwa was appointed as Ambassador to France in December 2023.