‘Mkhwanazi and Khumalo are not credible, Mchunu is sensible’: Mary de Haas

Human rights activist and violence monitor Dr Mary de Haas has strongly criticised KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi and crime intelligence boss Lt-Gen Dumisani Khumalo, saying she does not find them credible.

De Haas made her comments on Tuesday while appearing before parliament’s ad hoc committee investigating allegations of corruption and political interference in the criminal justice system.

She was questioned about her alleged role in influencing the directive by suspended police minister Senzo Mchunu to disband the political killings task team (PKTT).

During her testimony MK Party MP David Skosana said: “You’ve been following this ad hoc committee, am I right? Is Mkhwanazi credible?”

“I don’t believe he is,” De Haas responded.

When Skosana asked, “Is Khumalo credible?”, De Haas replied “nope, definitely not”.

Asked about Mchunu’s alleged corruption, De Haas stressed her general skepticism towards all political figures.

“He may or may not be. I don’t know,” she said, adding: “I’ll start with the assumption that everyone in politics is corrupt and they have to prove otherwise, and they are sometimes proven otherwise.”

Regarding the suggestion that Mchunu should be fired for the alleged illegal disbandment of the PKTT, De Haas defended his actions.

“I don’t see any reason to fire him. He was doing sensible things, [and] he made enemies because he was also trying to clamp down on gun control.”

De Haas had previously written a letter to Mchunu requesting the disbandment of the PKTT, claiming the unit was abusive and fabricated statements. On December 31 2024 Mchunu sent a letter to national police Commissioner Gen Fannie Masemola directing him to disband the task team.

MPs scrutinised the similarities between De Haas and Mchunu’s letters, suggesting she may have been the driving force behind Mchunu’s directive.

De Haas told the committee she was pleased to see Mchunu’s letter when she found out about it on January 2 2025.

“I was happy to see the team disbanded. I would’ve been happy with an inquiry into it. It was a good decision to disband. I couldn’t understand why the PKTT was established. Over two years it didn’t seem it had done much at all.”

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