Edward Senzo Mchunu (born 21 April 1958) is a South African politician currently serving as Minister of Police since 30 June 2024.

Formerly an ally of President Jacob Zuma, Mchunu was politically aligned to Cyril Ramaphosa by 2016.

Mchunu was born in April 1958 at eNhlwathi in KwaHlabisa in the northern part of present-day KwaZulu-Natal.

On 11 May 2009, Mkhize announced that he had appointed Mchunu to the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government as Member 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.

[21] Mchunu also failed to gain election as an ordinary member of the ANC Provincial Executive Committee.

[22] The outcome led to an outbreak of bitter factionalism in the provincial party, reportedly leading to several political 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.

[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 at Luthuli House in Johannesburg and that involved working closely with the Secretary-General's office.

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.

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 the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, Dean Macpherson, organized The Summit on Crime-Free Construction Sites at the Durban International Convention Center to address the growing concern surrounding safety and other criminal activity caused by the Construction Mafia.

Adding that he had roped in the Directorate of Priority Crimes Investigations (DCPI) also known as Hawks (South Africa), to get involved and target the masterminds behind the extortion in the construction industry.