Perjury charges laid against South Africa’s suspended police minister’s chief of staff

Suspended police minister Senzo Mchunu’s chief of staff Cedrick Nkabinde is in hot water relating to his appearance at Parliament’s ad hoc committee on November 13th.

The committee sent him packing because of inaccuracies in his statement for the committee probing allegations of criminal infiltration, corruption, and political interference in the criminal justice system made by KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.

This comes after he admitted that some of his testimony relating to his boss and controversial ANC-aligned businessman Brown Mogotsi was ‘thumbsucked’.

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have since laid charges of perjury against him for his testimony.

He is a former SAPS member who left as a junior member and was recruited by the police watchdog, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate, as an investigator and later deputy director.

Nkabinde had spent the morning testifying about how former police minister Bheki Cele had used his IPID whistleblower report to block the renewal of ex-IPID head Robert McBride’s contract.

Then it moved to his role as chief of staff to Mchunu. Nkabinde allegedly facilitated a meeting between his boss, now-sidelined Mchunu, and ANC-aligned Mogotsi, who has since been accused of information peddling.

In response to EFF’s Julius Malema’s questioning over the discrepancy of dates in his affidavit, and a question on whether he had his device when compiling the affidavit, Nkabinde said “no, dates I was thumb-sucking”.

According to Nkabinde, the inaccuracies stemmed from his devices (gadgets) being confiscated during a police raid on his home over a month earlier, leaving him without access to records, emails, or calendars to verify timelines.

He stated he was upfront with the evidence leader about this limitation but was advised he could estimate, leading him to “thumb-suck” the dates in his affidavit.

He emphasised that he did not anticipate the need for precise details at the time the meetings were arranged, as he was unaware of the impending committee inquiry.

Responding to accusations of perjury from Malema, he said “it wasn’t a lie; it was an estimate. I didn’t intend to mislead anyone. If I had known the exact dates were this critical, I would have said so upfront. I have nothing to hide.”

The committee chairperson, Soviet Lekganyane, deemed this explanation inexcusable by professional standards, halting the testimony and granting Nkabinde 10 days to amend his statement with accurate information.

The EFF subsequently opened a perjury case against him, alleging the errors were a deliberate attempt to distort facts.

“His actions… were not an accidental misstatement but a strategic attempt to distort facts before a parliamentary inquiry dealing with matters of corruption, political interference, and compromised policing. Such behaviour cannot be tolerated,” the party said in a statement.

Committee member Mdumiseni Ntuli criticised the official’s lack of preparation after proceedings were suspended, saying he appeared to have “underestimated what would be expected of him” before the ad hoc committee.

Ntuli said the witness seemed to believe that “even in instances where he might not have the required information and dates… he can easily escape that by arguing that he does not have his own gadgets.”

He added that such conduct “communicates a negative message,” especially for someone serving as a chief of staff who is expected to arrive “much more” prepared.

“For him to simply come and say, ‘I don’t know, I may have misled you because I don’t have my gadget’. I think it’s too simple an excuse,” Ntuli said.