Cachalia to be sworn in as Police Minister after ConCourt ru
South Africa’s new acting police minister, Firoz Cachalia, is set to be sworn in at the Union Buildings on Friday morning, after the Constitutional Court dismissed an urgent legal bid by the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK Party) to block his appointment.
Cachalia, a former Gauteng MEC for Community Safety and respected legal academic, will become the first minister in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Cabinet appointed from outside of Parliament in this administration.
The Presidency confirmed that the swearing-in ceremony will go ahead following Thursday’s Constitutional Court ruling, which found that the MK Party must first bring its case before the High Court.
The party had argued that appointing another police minister while Senzo Mchunu is on special leave amounts to a duplication of roles and a waste of public funds.
President Ramaphosa announced nearly two weeks ago that he was placing Mchunu on leave and invoking a constitutional provision that allows him to appoint someone from outside Parliament to assume ministerial responsibilities temporarily.
The decision was made as part of efforts to restore confidence in the South African Police Service (SAPS), amidst allegations of corruption and mismanagement.
Cachalia’s appointment is closely tied to the Judicial Commission of Inquiry that will now probe the allegations against Mchunu.
That inquiry is to be chaired by Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, who retired from the Constitutional Court on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Parliament announced the formation of an ad hoc committee to investigate separate allegations of corruption and collusion within SAPS raised by KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.
Although Cachalia will sit in the Cabinet, he will not be a Member of Parliament — a constitutionally permissible exception in cases where the president makes an external appointment.
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