Suspended Senzo Mchunu warns ‘big-headed’ ANC on the brink of collapse

SOUTH AFRICA – Over a month after being suspended as Police Minister, African National Congress (ANC) senior member Senzo Mchunu has warned that the ruling party is teetering on the edge of collapse and its days in power could be numbered.

Mchunu who was speaking on Saturday at the unveiling of a tombstone for anti-apartheid activist Nokuhamba Nyawo in Machobeni, KwaZulu-Natal, likened the ANC to “a person walking on the edge of a cliff.”

He urged party leaders to regroup ahead of the 2026 local government elections warning that they could be forced to “kiss power goodbye.”

“If we do not win municipalities in the upcoming local government next year, come the national government elections, we will be history,” he said

“We became big-headed and took the people for granted — they punished us. But there’s still time to mend our ways,” Mchunu admitted.

The ANC performed badly in the May 2024 elections and was forced into a precarious coalition government.

Mchunu was placed on “special leave” as Police Minister by President Cyril Ramaphosa after he was accused of corruption by KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.

Mkhwananzi accused Mchunu of having ties to criminal gangs and of meddling in police investigations into politically motivated murders.

He gave an example of how a task force set up in 2018 to investigate the killing of politicians, mainly in KwaZulu-Natal, was disbanded under unclear circumstances.

According to Gen Mkhwanazi over 121 case files were removed from the unit on the orders of Mchunu.

“These case dockets have, since March, been sitting at the head office ever since without any investigation work done on them. Five of these dockets already had instructions to [effect] arrests.”

Mchunu meanwhile briefly addressed the issue over weekend saying “I am ready to speak” as he awaits the upcoming commission hearings into the matter.