Cachalia won't apologise for Mkhwanazi's combat gear criticism

ACTING Police Minister Firoz Cachalia believes his remarks expressing concern about KwaZulu-Natal Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi in combat gear do not warrant an apology.

MK Party MP Vusi Shongwe asked Cachalia to apologise to Mkhwanazi after the acting minister conceded that he did not know if the wearing of the Task Force Unit uniform was legal or not.

Mkhwazi donned the uniform when he made serious allegations of corruption within the SAPS and attempts by criminal syndicates to infiltrate the organisation allegedly with the help of Police Minister Senzo Mchunu, who has since been placed on enforced leave.  

Cachalia had earlier said that he was concerned about the image of someone dressed like a soldier, appearing in public making statements.

When Shongwe pressed the acting minister to apologise, Cachalia said that he had never said Mkhwanazi was not entitled to wear the uniform or it was illegal to do so.

“There is no need for me to apologise about something that was not intended badly. There was no insult and so I don’t apologise,” he said.

“I shared my initial impressions with the public in an open way in what it means to have public discourse and if my comments occasioned public discourse, it is a good thing.”

He added that Mkhwanazi has not demanded an apology and he was unsure he needed the MK Party to act on his behalf.

“If he wants an apology, he knows how to engage with me. That will be entirely different. The question does not arise because there was no insult,” he said.

Testifying earlier at the parliamentary inquiry probing Mkhwanazi’s allegations, Cachalia said Mkhwanazi’s appearance before the public, while armed and in full military regalia, worried him and he had made a statement to that effect after his appointment.

“I said at the time, which I maintain is correct, that kind of public statement was not in the ordinary situation in the expected situation (and was not) appropriate because police have command structures.”

During the question session, MK Party MP Sibonelo Nomvalo asked why Cachalia was concerned about the uniform Mkhwanazi wore during the press conference.

In response, Cachalia said in a democracy it was important for there to be a clear separation between political authority and the military.

“My initial impression was what is going on? Is this South Africa? It conjured up images in my mind of a kind of a coup d’état.”

During his testimony, Cachalia told the inquiry that he did not have an engagement with suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu on why he disbanded the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT).

“I did not reach out to my predecessor, nor did he to me to have a normal handover. That was a deliberate decision by me,” he said.

Asked whether it did not concern him that he had no handover from Mchunu, Cachalia said he did not want the suspended minister to feel that he had prejudged the matter.

He said had he met with Mchunu, there would have been an inevitable conversation about the events concerning the disbandment of the team.

Cape Times