Latest “Family Meeting” with President Cyril Ramaphosa Leaves South Africans Disappointed
After a week-long wait since the scheduling of yet another “family meeting”, as national addresses have become colloquially known through the years, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on Sunday, the 13th of July 2025, that he will be establishing yet another Commission of Inquiry to investigate the allegations made by Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi during his briefing on the 6th of July 2025. The President also took the decision to have current Police Minister Senzo Mchunu placed on leave of absence.
Related article: Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi Lays Criminal Charges Against Police Minister Senzo Mchunu Following Scandalous Press Briefing
The briefing, which was dilatory by half an hour of the starting time, saw Ramaphosa acknowledge the accusations made by Mkhwanazi, which included allegations leveled against Mchunu for standing in the way of key investigations as well as covert attempts to quietly disband the political killings investigation task division. Doubling down on the statement he made after Mkhwanazi’s showing, in which he called for restraint and diplomacy, Matamela underscored the importance of upholding the country’s Constitution, national security, as well as respecting the rule of law while still exposing the rot of a drug cartel in cahoots with law enforcement, politicians, and the judiciary, among other things.
President Cyril Ramaphosa | SUPPLIED
To address the gangrene, Ramaphosa revealed plans to start a judiciary commission of inquiry to dig into the allegations. This undertaking will be helmed by Acting Deputy Chief Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga.
Madlanga will be supported by Advocates Sesi Baloyi SC and Sandile Khumalo SC, and the commission will be required to supply interim reports from 3 and 6 months, respectively.
This development also led to the immediate placement of Senzo Mchunu on leave of absence, with Mchunu being replaced with Professor Firoz Cachalia in the meantime, taking up the mantle as Acting Police Minister. While Mchunu’s dismissal is immediate, Cachalia will not be able to assume his position formally until the beginning of August. Until then, a stopgap Acting Minister of Police will be picked from the Cabinet by the President.
South Africans were left underwhelmed on Sunday evening on top of suffering a delay, with the overwhelming majority disappointed by the President’s move.
Politician Naledi Chirwa criticised the President’s latest move, calling out the needless expenditure of this Commission as well as decrying the leniency of the President on Mchunu, who lied in Parliament about his relationship with businessman Brown Mogotsi, who is currently marked as a proponent in criminal syndicates indicated by Mkhwanazi.
Another netizen by the username @BALUCIAGA highlighted the things Cyril said, while contrasting the things he spoke about with everything else he omitted which Mkhwanazi alleged during his briefing.
@MxolisiBob spoke about the discrepancy of public servants not being funded by the government, highlighting the inconsistency of starting a costly Commission, saying, “A government which cannot hire doctors, teachers, nurses, and other basic essential services because of budget “constrain[t]s” suddenly has a budget for [a] “commission of inquiry” where advocates demand over R35K per day.”