‘Where's the proof?': Calls for Ntshavheni to answer for coup claims
The MK party is demanding proof about an alleged coup that has been foiled by the South African government.
This comes after Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni told parliament on Tuesday that the country's intelligence services managed to prevent a number of coup attempts, the latest being two weeks ago.
MK party spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela told The Citizen on Wednesday that the minister must provide evidence to back her claims.
'She must tell us who, what and where. She has already told the public, now she must give us details and stop politicking,' he said.
Is state security still functional?
Despite Ntshavheni's praise of the country's intelligence services, Ndhlela said they are dysfunctional.
'If they have been closing on coups, why did they fail to prevent the July unrests four years ago?' he asked.
Ndhlela criticised President Cyril Ramaphosa for absorbing the intelligence portfolio into the office of the Presidency.
Efforts to discredit Mkhwanazi?
ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba also dismissed Ntshavheni's claims.
'This is nonsense. We do not have time for this. This is the first time we are hearing of it and I think this is just a plan to discredit [KZN police commissioner] Lt Gen Mkhwanazi,' he said.
ALSO READ: Ntshavheni assures SA is safe after detected potential coup risk
Mkhwanazi made several allegations against top police officials, including Minister Senzo Mchunu, accusing them of political interference and collusion with alleged criminal syndicates.
During a parliamentary meeting on Wednesday, National Coloured Congress member Fadiel Adams described Mkhwanazi's allegations as a threat to the country.
'He had what looked like an armed militia behind him. That was a threat to this country.
'He was trying to incite policemen to take action in the event of whatever it is he knows is coming,' he speculated.
'Very low risk' of a coup
Political analyst Ntsikelelo Breakfast told The Citizen that Ntshavheni's comments have the potential to alarm the public.
'She should not have said that. There are things that you are privy to as a leader of a cluster.
'If there is a threat, I think she should have kept the public at bay about that. We do not want to agitate people to pursue that agenda,' he said.
Breakfast said the intelligence service in the country had been weaponised in party politics.
'The intelligence apparatus has always been, and maybe still is, used in the factional battles of the ANC,' he said.
Another political analyst, Theo Neethling, said he was surprised by Ntshavheni's remarks.
'I can only say that the possibility of a coup in South Africa has always been regarded by analysts as a matter of very low risk – unlike what we've seen in recent years, for example, in West Africa. This announcement therefore comes as a complete surprise and even a shock,' he said.
Neethling said the announcement comes at a time when the police are in deep trouble.
'In addition, allegations of corruption and misconduct against ANC members and top police officials hang like a dark cloud in the air, creating major uncertainty about our national security,' he said.
NOW READ: Leave and a commission don't make Mchunu immune from prosecution, parliament hears
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IOL News
4 minutes ago
- IOL News
Erosion of public trust in South Africa: Understanding the crisis and potential solutions
Experts say that the trust deficit in most government institutions, if not all, is a systematic issue. Pictured is South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa. Image: Supplied South African citizens have had enough of poor service delivery, high levels of crime, corruption, unresponsive government, and public institutions; they believe that they have been taken for granted for too long. As a result, public trust and confidence in government and public institutions are at their lowest at present, experts say. A recent survey by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) revealed that South Africans' trust in government institutions has declined, with the police recording 22%, the lowest since 1998. There is a trust deficit in almost all government institutions, including the Parliament. 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He added that public institutions should be open and transparent in all their operations to restore confidence in the populace. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ 'All government activities should be open and transparent. The processes for appointments, suspensions, and dismissals, decision-making should be inclusive, and provision should be made for greater diversity in terms of different ethnic groups, as well as political representation, like what we are having now in the government of national unity. 'Some of the transgressors in some of the more widely publicised cases should be tried and sentenced. And that should send a strong message that the government is quite serious about curbing the scourge of corruption, reducing crime, and more importantly, enhancing service delivery, particularly concerning basic services,' Reddy said. He added that the anti-corruption agencies, oversight bodies, and the office of the public protector can be strengthened by appointing individuals strictly on merit. That is, people who have the qualifications, experience, expertise, and are independent. They should be firm, decisive, and undertake their tasks without favour or fear. But how did we get here? 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Reuben Coetzer, spokesperson for Free SA, said South Africans are weary of watching inquiry after inquiry, only to see the implicated promoted, protected, or quietly forgotten. 'The credibility crisis is not just about one minister or one commission. It's about the erosion of democratic trust. We need prosecutions, resignations, recoveries of stolen funds, and above all, leadership that respects the intelligence of its people,' Coetzer said. According to the 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer South Africa report, business and NGOs remain the most trusted institutions in South Africa, with 68% and 63% respectively.
IOL News
4 minutes ago
- IOL News
Are commissions in South Africa a tool for justice or a shield for corruption?
Chief Justice Raymond Zondo chaired the Judicial Commission into State Capture. The Zondo Commission's R1 billion inquiry yielded minimal prosecutions despite documenting R1.5 trillion in state capture. Image: Karen Sandison/African News Agency (ANA) FORMER EFF politician Mbuyiseni Ndlozi argues that a president cannot find anyone guilty, advocating instead for proper judicial commissions of inquiry, led by a judge, with strict timelines. He deems this 'proper' for a democracy. However, the subsequent analysis of South African commissions reveals how they often fall short of this ideal, instead perpetuating systemic violence and delaying justice. The Commissions Act, 1947 (Act No 8 of 1947), used for inquiries such as the Zondo Commission on State Capture, originated under British colonial rule. This embedded a legalistic façade for systemic violence. It enabled apartheid-era inquiries, such as the Hefer Commission (2003) and Donen Commission (2002), which probed 'financial irregularities' while ignoring Black suffering under racial capitalism. Like colonial inquests pathologising indigenous resistance, modern commissions prioritise bureaucratic order over human dignity. Tebogo Thobejane's condemnation: 'No mention of the lack of protection… left to fight alone,' echoes this centuries-old erasure. After surviving an assassination attempt, she now navigates a trial process offering legal theatrics, not safety. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad Loading Commissions ritually harvest victim trauma while withholding redress. The Marikana Commission (2012) gathered 641 days of testimony from widows of massacred miners, yet delivered no prosecutions or timely reparations. This pattern repeats in Thobejane's case as her ex-boyfriend's corruption trial expands while her paralysed friend remains unsupported. Similarly, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) heard 21 000 victims' testimonies but granted amnesty to 1 500 perpetrators, providing only nominal reparations. This dynamic inherits colonial evidence-gathering: Black pain becomes archival fodder, catalogued and then discarded. As Thobejane noted, President Cyril Ramaphosa's speeches often overlook victims, reducing their experiences to procedural footnotes. Commission structures inherently protect power networks. The Mokgoro Commission (2018) and Ginwala Inquiry (2007) scrutinised prosecutors threatening political elites under the NPA Act. Inquiries into police violence, such as those in Khayelitsha (2012), operated with weaker mandates. This bifurcation mirrors colonial divide-and-rule tactics, ensuring accountability often evaporates. 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Colonial inquiries similarly recast resistance as deviance, using statutes to sanctify state violence. When commissions centre perpetrators' due process over victims' safety, they enact 'racial terror through bureaucracy'. The TRC's unresolved legacy continues to haunt contemporary commissions. Thirty years later, only 137 of its recommended prosecutions have been investigated, while apartheid-era cases like the Cradock Four murders remain in legal limbo. Nomonde Calata's tears at a 2025 inquest echo her 1996 TRC testimony, testifying to the commission's broken promises. Thobejane's demand for 'accountability and support' confronts this cycle; her ex-boyfriend faces new charges while his police and political connections remain intact. Reparations remain theoretical: TRC victims received a single payment of R30 000 each, while Marikana families await R1 billion in compensation. This reflects colonialism's core calculus: human suffering indexed against fiscal 'pragmatism'. Breaking this machinery requires centring victims as architects, not evidence. Unlike Ramaphosa's commissions, a transformative approach would enforce existing recommendations: implementing the Khayelitsha Commission's 2012 police reforms, funding TRC-mandated educational reparations, and prosecuting the network of Thobejane's ex-boyfriend beyond his hitmen. Thobejane's couragec — demanding protection while testifying — sets a model for this agency. Yet, without dismantling the Commissions Act and colonial-era legalisms, inquiries remain stone fortresses where violence is ritualised, not remedied. South Africa remains fractured by inequality, a landscape where commissions consecrate state power while the vulnerable fight alone in the ruins. Siyayibanga le economy! * Siyabonga Hadebe is an independent commentator based in Geneva on socio-economic, political and global matters. ** The views expressed here do not reflect those of the Sunday Independent, Independent Media, or IOL. 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The South African
an hour ago
- The South African
Duke of Sussex shifts focus from royal drama to humanitarian
Prince Harry arrived in Angola on 15 July 2025 to support HALO Trust's mine-clearing mission. Furthermore, he travelled solo, citing safety concerns for Meghan Markle amid active mine zones. The Duke landed at Luanda airport before flying to Cuito Cuanavale, a region heavily affected by Angola's civil war. HALO Trust has cleared over 123 000 mines since 1994, with 1 000 minefields remaining. WALKING THROUGH HISTORY WITH PURPOSE By 16 July 2025, the HALO Trust had cleared the specific section of the Cuito Cuanavale minefield where Prince Harry walked safely in protective gear, as part of a symbolic visit highlighting ongoing demining efforts. His walk mirrored Princess Diana's 1997 Huambo visit, which helped catalyse the Ottawa Treaty banning landmines. Moreover, Harry stated, 'Children should never live in fear of walking to school,' echoing his mother's advocacy. Harry met President João Lourenço to discuss HALO's future operations and funding commitments. Angola pledged a renewed three-year contract to support HALO's goal of a mine-free country by 2025. HALO CEO James Cowan praised the government's dedication to humanitarian demining and its renewed multi-year contract to support Angola's mission to become mine-free. The Duke also attended a British Embassy reception to promote HALO's outreach. Harry's visit aims to shift focus from royal tensions to humanitarian work. With Harry's approval, HALO banned the British press from the event to maintain mission focus. Harry's engagement with Angola spans more than a decade, marked by field visits and policy advocacy, most recently culminating in renewed support for HALO's 2025 mine-clearance expansion. In addition, his solo trip follows a private peace summit between royal aides and Archewell staff in London. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 11. Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
