Ramaphosa’s War on Crime Set Back as Scandal Embroils Minister

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has encountered a fresh setback as he seeks to clamp down on rampant crime.

Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, the head of the police in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province, last week accused Police Minister Senzo Mchunu and some of his fellow officers of trying to quash a probe into political killings. Mkhwanazi aired his allegations — which were denied by Mchunu — at a press conference surrounded by masked, rifle-bearing officers while the president was attending a summit in Brazil.