JOHANNESBURG — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday suspended the country’s police minister and announced an investigation into allegations he has been colluding with criminal syndicates.

Ramaphosa’s actions follow allegations made by a top police official in the KwaZulu-Natal province, Gen. Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, that Senzo Mchunu and deputy police commissioner Shadrack Sibiya had interfered with sensitive investigations.

“The commission will investigate the role of current or former senior officials in certain institutions who may have aided or abetted the alleged criminal activity, failed to act on credible intelligence or internal warnings, or benefited financially or politically from a syndicate’s operations,” Ramaphosa said during a televised address Sunday.

During a news briefing on July 6, Mkhwanazi also alleged that Mchunu and Sibiya disbanded a crucial crime unit tasked with investigating repeated politically motivated killings in the province after it was revealed that crime syndicates were behind the killings.

— The Associated Press