Explosive testimony at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry has placed Police Minister Senzo Mchunu at the centre of a controversial claim surrounding the 2017 assassination of former ANC Youth League secretary-general Sindiso Magaqa.
An undercover Crime Intelligence operative, identified as Witness E, told the commission that Minister Mchunu repeatedly insisted during a phone conversation that Lieutenant General Dumisani Khumalo then head of Crime Intelligence was responsible for orchestrating Magaqa’s killing.
“Still on the call, Minister Mchunu was insisting that Gen Khumalo was behind the assassination of Magaqa,” Witness E testified before the commission chaired by Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga.
The witness, however, strongly rejected the allegation, stating that Khumalo had no involvement in the plot. Witness E said he directly told the minister that the intelligence chief was not part of the conspiracy, contradicting Mchunu’s assertion.
The testimony emerged amid broader revelations that law enforcement leadership may have failed to act on advance intelligence warnings ahead of Magaqa’s murder. Witness E claimed Crime Intelligence had information indicating Magaqa’s life was under threat, adding that the assassination could have been prevented if the warnings had been taken seriously.
According to the witness, authorities had as much as two weeks’ notice before the fatal shooting but failed to implement protective measures or disrupt the alleged plot.
Magaqa, a prominent political figure and vocal anti-corruption campaigner, was gunned down in uMzimkhulu in July 2017 and later died from his injuries, sparking national outrage and prolonged investigations.
The Madlanga Commission continues to probe allegations of political interference, intelligence failures and internal divisions within the police, as pressure mounts for accountability over one of South Africa’s most politically charged assassinations.
