Africa-Press – South-Africa. The judicial commission of inquiry into allegations of political interference and corruption in the criminal justice system is delayed.
The inquiry established by President Cyril Ramaphosa to look into allegations made by KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi was scheduled to start on September 1.
Mkhwanazi accused police minister Senzo Mchunu of interfering with police investigations and overstepping his role when he ordered the disbandment of the police political killings task team.
The commission chairperson and recently retired Constitutional Court judge Mbuyiseli Madlanga announced on Tuesday its hearings will not start on September 1 due to delays in the procurement of vital infrastructure.
Previously the commission said the justice and constitutional development department was procuring the commission’s infrastructure requirements necessary for it to start its hearings.
It said the announcement was made based on unequivocal commitments made to it by the department that the requirements would have been procured in time.
“Those commitments have not been met. As a result, it has become clear that the commission will not be able to start the hearings as scheduled,” it said.
“But for the lack of the requirements the department has failed to procure, the commission would have been ready to start the hearings on September 1.”
Madlanga said the commission was left with no choice but to reschedule the starting date.
The most regrettable part about the delay was that a substantial portion of the three-month period — at the end of which the commission is expected to submit an interim report — had gone by without it having heard a single witness, he said.
“This is not of the commission’s making,” he said.
“The commission considers it best to fix a new date for the commencement of its hearings once everything that needs to be procured by the department is in place. It also assures South Africans it is doing everything within its power to ensure that the first witness will take the stand as soon as possible after everything has been procured.”
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