Willies Mchunu
Willies Mchunu is a member of the African National Congress and a Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for the Department of Transport, Community Safety, and Liaison in the KwaZulu Natal province in South Africa. He is a former chairperson of the South African Communist Party in KwaZulu-Natal and is a member of the Central Committee of the SACP.[1]
Controversies
Violence at the Kennedy Road informal settlement in 2009
Willies Mchunu's response to the violent attacks on Abahlali baseMjondolo at Kennedy Road informal settlement was controversial.[2] At the time of the attack, he claimed that the attacks were by a "criminal forum" associated with Abahlali baseMjondolo president S'bu Zikode.[3] Abahlali baseMjondolo and many civil society organizations have called the attack on Abahlali baseMjondolo and Kennedy Road residents politically motivated and blame Mchunu for condoning the attacks by an armed group affiliated with the ANC .[4][5][6] Mchunu's response to the attacks has also been criticized by Bishop Rubin Phillip and Archbishop Thabo Makgoba[7] Mchunu refused calls for an independent investigation into the attacks.[8][9] Amnesty International sent a letter of concern to Willies Mchunu, but there was no response from his office.[10]
On 18 July 2011, the case against the twelve members of Abahlali baseMjondolo was thrown out of court.[11] The Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa issued a statement saying that the "charges were based on evidence which now appears almost certainly to have been manufactured" and that the Magistrate had described the witnesses as "belligerent", "unreliable", and "dishonest".[12]
According to Paul Trewhela, "The scandal is that this political prosecution was instituted in the first place, and that it was dragged on, month after month, by magistrates, prosecutions and police without a shred of reliable evidence - with plentiful evidence, rather, of manipulation and intimidation of witnesses by the police and local ANC structures."[13]
Deaths During Traffic Department 'Fitness Test' in 2012
In last 2012 six applicants for positions as traffic officers died during a fitness text and another committed suicide following which there were calls for Mchunu's resignation.[14]
Fields Hill 2013 Crash
Since 24 people were killed on 5 September 2013 in one of the most horrific accidents on Fields Hill, the 2013 Pinetown crash, Willies Mchunu has discounted calls from residents for the banning of trucks on the Hill of Horrors as it has become known. Local City Councillor Rick Crouch has been vocal about the Provincial Governments failure in stopping the carnage on Fields Hill, going as far as accusing the KwaZulu-Natal MEC Department of Transport, Community Safety, and Liaison Willies Mchunu of practicing tombstone legislation.[15] Councillor Rick Crouch, has been campaigning for stricter rules for trucks on Field’s Hill.[16]
References
- ↑ What is Going on in KZN?, by Paul Trewhela, Politics Web, 9 January 2012
- ↑ Willies Mchunu and the attack on Kennedy Road, Paul Trewhela, Politics Web, 29 August 2011
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- ↑ South Africa: Failure to conduct impartial investigation into Kennedy Road violence is leading to further human rights abuses, Amnesty International, 16 December 2009
- ↑ Press statement by the Unemployed Peoples Movement, 18 July 2011
- ↑ "Kennedy 12" Acquitted
- ↑ The ANC and the failing of democratic governance, Paul Trewhela, Politics Web, 27 August 2011
- ↑ Fitness test deaths: Provincial minister dismisses calls to resign, Mail & Guardian, 31 December 2012
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