Edward Senzo Mchunu | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Minister of Police | |
| Assumed office 3 July 2024[1] | |
| President | Cyril Ramaphosa |
| Deputy | |
| Preceded by | Bheki Cele |
| Minister of Water and Sanitation | |
| In office 5 August 2021 – 19 June 2024 | |
| President | Cyril Ramaphosa |
| Deputy | |
| Preceded by | Lindiwe Sisulu(forHuman Settlements, Water and Sanitation) |
| Succeeded by | Pemmy Majodina |
| Minister of Public Service and Administration | |
| In office 30 May 2019 – 5 August 2021 | |
| President | Cyril Ramaphosa |
| Deputy | Sindy Chikunga |
| Preceded by | Ayanda Dlodlo |
| Succeeded by | Ayanda Dlodlo |
| 6th Premier of KwaZulu-Natal | |
| In office 22 August 2013 – 23 May 2016 | |
| Monarch | Goodwill Zwelithini |
| Preceded by | Zweli Mkhize |
| Succeeded by | Willies Mchunu |
| Provincial Chairperson of the KwaZulu-Natal African National Congress | |
| In office March 2013 – November 2015 | |
| Deputy | Willies Mchunu |
| Preceded by | Zweli Mkhize |
| Succeeded by | Sihle Zikalala |
| Member of the KwaZulu-Natal Executive Council for Education | |
| In office May 2009 – September 2013 | |
| Premier | Zweli Mkhize |
| Preceded by | Ina Cronjé |
| Succeeded by | Peggy Nkonyeni |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Edward Senzo Mchunu (1958-04-21)21 April 1958 (age 66) eNhlwathi,Hlabisa Natal,Union of South Africa |
| Political party | African National Congress |
| Spouse | |
| Alma mater | |
Edward Senzo Mchunu (born 21 April 1958) is aSouth African politician currently serving asMinister of Police since 30 June 2024.[2] A member of theAfrican National Congress (ANC), he has been acabinet minister since May 2019. He was formerly thePremier of KwaZulu-Natal between 22 August 2013 and 23 May 2016.
A teacher by training, Mchunu was the inauguralProvincial Secretary of the ANC's branch inKwaZulu-Natal after its establishment in 1994, and he was first elected to theKwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature in 1997. While still in the legislature, he returned to the ANC Provincial Secretary position from 2005 until May 2009, when he was appointedMember of the Executive Council for Education inZweli Mkhize'sprovincial government.
In 2013, he succeeded Mkhize both as ANCProvincial Chairperson and as Premier of KwaZulu-Natal. However, he was ousted from the party office in November 2015 in a bitter contest withSihle Zikalala. In May 2016 the ANC compelled him to resign from the Premier's office.
Formerly an ally of PresidentJacob Zuma, Mchunu was politically aligned toCyril Ramaphosa by 2016. In 2017 he won election to the ANCNational Executive Committee and he subsequently served a brief stint as head of organising atLuthuli House, the ANC's national headquarters. Appointed toRamaphosa's cabinet after the2019 general election, he served asMinister of Public Service and Administration from May 2019 to August 2021 and then asMinister of Water and Sanitation from August 2021 to June 2024, when he was appointed to his current position. He was re-elected to a second five-year term on the ANC National Executive Committee in December 2022.
Mchunu was born in April 1958 at eNhlwathi inKwaHlabisa in the northern part of present-dayKwaZulu-Natal.[3] He attended high school inPietermaritzburg and later enrolled at theUniversity of Zululand; he completed his degree, aBachelor of Arts in education andinternational relations, at theUniversity of South Africa in 1986.[3] After graduating he worked as a teacher at high schools inNquthu andEshowe.[4]
In 1991, after theAfrican National Congress (ANC) was unbanned by theapartheid government, Mchunu became the inaugural Regional Secretary of the ANC's branch in NorthernNatal. His appointment to this position marked his entrance to professional politics.[4] In 1994, he was elected as the inauguralProvincial Secretary of the ANC's KwaZulu-Natal branch, underProvincial ChairpersonJacob Zuma.[4]
In 1997, Mchunu was sworn in as aMember of theKwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature. Over the next decade, he chaired various committees in the legislature.[4]
He also returned to the ANC's provincial leadership corps from 1998, when he was elected ANC Deputy Provincial Secretary, serving under Provincial ChairpersonS'bu Ndebele and Provincial Secretary Sipho Gcabashe.[5] He was re-elected in September 2002 despite a challenge to his incumbency by Mbuso Kubheka: he received 304 votes against Kubheka's 171.[6]
At the party's next provincial elective conference in May 2005, Mchunu was elected to succeed Gcabashe as Provincial Secretary,[7] apparently with the support of Jacob Zuma, who by then wasDeputy President of South Africa.[8] While Provincial Secretary, Mchunu – like the incumbent ANC Provincial Chairperson,Zweli Mkhize – was reportedly a strong supporter of Zuma during Zuma's heated rivalry with ANC PresidentThabo Mbeki.[9][8][10] Mchunu was re-elected as Provincial Secretary in June 2008;[11] at that time he remained a Member of the Provincial Legislature.
In the2009 general election, Mchunu was re-elected to his legislative seat and Zweli Mkhize was electedPremier of KwaZulu-Natal. On 11 May 2009, Mkhize announced that he had appointed Mchunu to the KwaZulu-Natalprovincial government asMember of the Executive Council (MEC) for Education.[12] Because Mchunu's role as ANC Provincial Secretary was full-time, it was incompatible with his government appointment; he vacated the party office and was replaced by his deputy,Sihle Zikalala, in July.[13] He remained MEC for Education until his own ascension to the premiership in 2013.[4][14]
Towards the end of his term as MEC, in March 2013, Mchunu was elected Provincial Chairperson of the KwaZulu-Natal ANC, succeeding Mkhize, who had been elected to the full-time position of national ANC Treasurer-General.[15] Mchunu received 385 votes against the 373 votes received by the other candidate, incumbent Deputy Provincial ChairpersonWillies Mchunu.[16][17] According to theMail & Guardian, his candidacy was opposed by Zuma (who by then wasPresident of South Africa), apparently because Mchunu had not supported Zuma's bid for re-election at the ANC's53rd National Conference in December 2012.[17]
In order to take up the Treasurer-General position, Mkhize also resigned from his government position as KwaZulu-Natal Premier; Mchunu was sworn in as acting Premier on 22 August 2013[18] and on 26 September 2013 was formally elected to succeed Mkhize.[19] In the2014 general election, Mchunu was elected to a full term as Premier.[20]
At the ANC's next provincial elective conference in November 2015, Mchunu ran for re-election as ANC Provincial Chairperson but was defeated by his one-time deputy, Sihle Zikalala, who received 780 votes against Mchunu's 675.[21] Mchunu also failed to gain election as an ordinary member of the ANCProvincial Executive Committee.[22] The outcome led to an outbreak of bitterfactionalism in the provincial party, reportedly leading to severalpolitical assassinations.[22][23] Mchunu's supporters claimed that the vote had been rigged and successfully challenged it in the courts, leading in late 2017 to the nullification of the election and the dissolution of Zikalala's leadership corps.[23][24]
However, by then, Mchunu had been removed from the KwaZulu-Natal premiership: he resigned on 23 May 2016 under significant pressure from leaders of both the provincial and the national ANC.[22][25][26] He said that he had informed the national ANC leadership that he had "reservations" about the circumstances of his departure.[27][28] Shortly afterwards, the ANC announced that he would be replaced as Premier byWillies Mchunu and that he would be offered an ANC seat inthe national Parliament.[27][28]
Ahead of the ANC's54th National Conference, Mchunu stood to succeedGwede Mantashe as ANC Secretary-General. He ran on an informalslate aligned toCyril Ramaphosa[29] – he was reportedly a longstanding supporter of Ramaphosa's bid to be elected ANC President.[30] Indeed, theDaily Maverick said that Mchunu became Ramaphosa's "chief campaigner in KwaZulu-Natal".[31] At the conference, held atNasrec in December 2017, Ramaphosa won the presidency but Mchunu lost the Secretary-General position in a vote toAce Magashule, who received 2,360 votes to Mchunu's 2,336. Because of the narrow 24-vote margin that decided the contest, the outcome was subject to controversy and arecount.[32][33][34]
Despite his defeat in the Secretary-General race, the 54th National Conference elected Mchunu to a five-year term as an ordinary member of the ANCNational Executive Committee. He received 1,800 votes across the 4,283 ballots cast, making him the 18th-most popular of the 80 candidates elected.[35] In February 2018, he was appointed chairperson of organising and campaigns in the party, a full-time position that was based out of the ANC's national headquarters atLuthuli House inJohannesburg and that involved working closely with the Secretary-General's office.[36] Ramaphosa and his supporters had reportedly pushed for Mchunu to be appointed to the role, while Ace Magashule's preferred candidate wasDakota Legoete, who was appointed Mchunu's deputy.[37][38]
In the2019 general election, Mchunu was elected as aMember of the National Assembly, ranked 13th on the ANC's party list.[39] Ramaphosawas elected to his first full term as President in the same election, and he appointed Mchunu tohis cabinet asMinister of Public Service and Administration.Sindy Chikunga was appointed as Mchunu's deputy.[40]
On 5 August 2021, Ramaphosa announced a cabinet reshuffle in which Mchunu was moved to theMinistry of Water and Sanitation, newly split from the formerMinistry of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation.[41]Dikeledi Magadzi was appointed Deputy Minister for Water and Sanitation in the same reshuffle.[42]
After the May 2024 election, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced his new cabinet in which he appointed Mchunu to the position of Police Minister, succeedingBheki Cele[43]
On 1 July 2024, South African Police Union (SAPU), welcomed Mchunu's appointment as the new Police Minister, however did issue as stern warning to stay in his lane and not interfere with operational matters of police. While Police, Prisons and Civil Rights Union (Popcru), challenged Mchunu to stop the killing of law enforcement officers and over crowded prisons[44]
On the 15th of July 2024, Mchunu held a press conference in which he outlined his priorities as Minister of Police. Indicating the need to modernize South African policing. Stating the crime levels in the country were too high and intolerable, and thattough measures needed for certain crime reduction strategies.[45]
Crime
In November 2024, Mchunu released the Second Quarter Crime Statistics for 2024/2025 financial year, and also reflected on his first 100 days in office. Giving a detailed breakdown of the statistics, Mchunu indicated that murder had decreased by 5.8%, sexual offences by 2.5%, robbery with aggravated circumstances by 8.8%, additionally rape decreased by 3.1%.[46]
Construction Mafia
Extortion in the South African Construction Industry has been an issue troubling Mchunu's predecessorBheki Cele. These extortionists forcefully extract protection fees from local construction companies and contractors or extort a portion of the cost of an infrastructure project, having derailed and delayed construction projects worth billions of Rands. Extortion in the construction industry in South Africa had led to the media dubbing these extortionists the 'Construction Mafia.'[47]On 19 of November 2024, Mchunu as Minister of Police along with theMinister of Public Works and Infrastructure,Dean Macpherson, organized The Summit on Crime-Free Construction Sites at theDurban International Convention Center to address the growing concern surrounding safety and other criminal activity caused by the Construction Mafia.[48] At the Summit Mchunu declared that the Construction Mafia was Public Enemy Number One. Adding that he had roped in the Directorate of Priority Crimes Investigations (DCPI) also known asHawks (South Africa), to get involved and target the masterminds behind the extortion in the construction industry.[49]
At the ANC's55th National Conference in December 2022, Mchunu was re-elected to a second five-year term on the party's National Executive Committee; he was ranked sixth of the 80 candidates elected, receiving 1,932 votes across 4,029 ballots.[50] In the run-up to the conference, he was also considered a likelyrunning mate for Ramaphosa, who was running for re-election to the ANC presidency;[51][52][53] however, he ultimately was not nominated to stand for a top party office.
Mchunu married Thembeka (born 31 January 1968) in July 1990.[54] She is also a politician.[55][56] They have four children – Zinhle, Mathuthu, Jama, and Phakade – and grandchildren.[54]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Office recreated | Minister of Water and Sanitation 5 August 2021 – | Incumbent |
| Preceded by | Minister of Public Service and Administration 30 May 2019 – 5 August 2021 | Succeeded by Ayanda Dlodlo |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Premier of KwaZulu-Natal 22 August 2013 – 24 May 2016 | Next: Willies Mchunu |