The uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) has called on judge Mbuyiseli Madlanga to suspend the start of the Madlanga Commission on Wednesday, until the Pretoria High Court passes judgment on the legality of the commission.

The commission was established in July, following explosive allegations of corruption, political interference, and malfeasance, with KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi specifically accusing Police Minister Senzo Mchunu of unilaterally disbanding the Political Killings Task Team and redirecting 121 active investigation dockets to the office of National Deputy Commissioner Lieutenant-General Shadrack Sibiya, where they have allegedly been neutralised.

Mchunu and Sibiya have since been placed on leave by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

In July, MKP president Jacob Zuma and the party legally challenged Ramaphosa’s decision to place Mchunu on a leave of absence and said Firoz Cachalia’s subsequent appointment as Acting Minister was illegal.

The party rejected what it termed the “reckless and unlawful” decision of the Madlanga Commission to commence hearings on Wednesday, when the case is set to be heard in the Pretoria High Court on Thursday.

MKP national spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela said this “rushed and irregular” mid-week commencement is not a coincidence.

“…it is a calculated manoeuvre designed to pre-empt, undermine, and possibly frustrate the court challenge brought by the MK Party and president Zuma in his personal capacity. Such contemptuous conduct towards the courts further illustrates the desperation of Cyril Ramaphosa and his compromised administration to sanitise illegality through speed and subterfuge,” he stated.

The commission was due to begin its work on September 1.

The party further challenged the legality of Madlanga’s appointment to head the commission, as a sitting judge, to investigate allegations that directly implicate members of the judiciary in corruption, gangsterism and criminal syndicates.

Ndhlela said this was a conflict of interest that tainted the commission’s legitimacy, independence, or public confidence in it.

“Its findings are pre-tainted and will amount to nothing more than an expensive political smokescreen. Equally unlawful is the purported appointment of Firoz Cachalia as ‘Acting Minister of Police’, an unconstitutional usurpation of executive authority compounded by Ramaphosa's arbitrary side-lining of Minister Senzo Mchunu under the guise of a ‘leave of absence’,” he highlighted.

Ndhlela accused Ramaphosa of ignoring the recommendations of the Zondo Commission, with concerns of the same fate for the Madlanga Commission, which he said would be a waste of taxpayer money.

“What South Africans are left with then, is nothing more than a costly political theatre designed to shield Ramaphosa and his faction from accountability,” he said, criticising the establishment of the commission, noting the Parliamentary ad hoc committee that was already undertaking an investigation.

POLITICAL PLOY

Meanwhile, last month, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EEF) urged Madlanga to relinquish his role in what it termed a “disgrace and fake process”, which it warned would taint his legacy in the legal profession.

This after the commission of inquiry into criminality, political interference and corruption in the criminal justice system announced that it was unable to begin its work owing to failure by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development to procure the necessary infrastructure, despite having made commitments that it would be able to do so.

The EFF claimed that Madlanga was being used as a “pawn” in a process that it believed was a “political ploy” to quickly "ease crime anxieties".

It said the commission was a “pretense at action".

The EFF said it was not surprised by the announcement of the delays to the commencement, saying this formed part of a “deliberate attempt to stifle accountability”.