In the hot seat: Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, the KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner, was interrogated by members of parliament this week. Photo: Delwyn Verasamy
ANC members of parliament were careful to avoid direct references to Senzo Mchunu when they questioned KwaZulu-Natal commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi this week on corruption allegations he has made implicating the suspended police minister.
Instead, they focused their questions on corruption in the judiciary, the role of former ANC member Brown Mogotsi, threats to Mkhwanazi’s family and alleged leaks from the National Prosecuting Authority.
Mkhwanazi gave the ad hoc committee investigating collusion between politicians and criminal syndicates a fuller picture of the depth of corruption in the justice system, laying the blame on the crime intelligence division of the South African Police Service as the source of political interference and leaks of confidential information to drug cartels.
He expanded on remarks he made at the Madlanga commission established by President Cyril Ramaphosa after the KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner first made the allegations at a July media briefing.
This week, Mkhwanazi told MPs crime intelligence needs an overhaul, especially at the executive level of individuals involved in the 2011 Richard Mdluli slush fund scandal.
He expressed concern about corrupt police officers who leak information to parliamentarians, who then weaponise it for political ends and highlighted the involvement of the ANC in using senior police officials to protect cartels and instigating the disbandment of a task team investigating political killings.
Crime intelligence head Dumisani Khumalo earlier provided the Madlanga commission with text evidence which showed North West businessman Mogotsi acted as the middleman between alleged “Big Five” cartel leader and murder suspect Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala and Mchunu to channel classified information in exchange for money used to fund ANC delegates and activities.
ANC MP Xola Nqola asked Mkhwanazi about the criminal cartel, allegedly led by Matlala and Katiso Molefe, who are accused of instigating the disbandment of the political killings task team.
Mkhwanazi told the committee “Big 5” cartel members were already facing murder charges in court but declined to name the other three members, saying the matter remained under investigation.
He wanted to draw attention to the alleged involvement of deputy crime intelligence head Feroz Khan, who he said “is at the centre of information leaks in crime intelligence”.
Without naming Mchunu, ANC MP Thokozile Sokanyile asked Mkhwanazi on Wednesday whether “the minister” did not have the prerogative, as chair of the interministerial committee on political killings, to dissolve the task team.
“When he takes a strategic decision of this nature, it should follow the chain of command,” Mkhwanazi replied.
uMkhonto weSizwe MP Mandla Skosana pressed Mkhwanazi about Mogotsi’s alleged access to crime intelligence information and whether the president had approved the task team’s disbandment.
Mkhwanazi said it was Mogotsi who told him he had received information from Khan and added that the involvement of someone who was not a police officer in criminal investigations was “a violation of the safety” he seeks to protect as a police officer.
“This is the highest infiltration you can think of. He had claimed to be a politician. The minister himself claimed to be his comrade. I believe when he said comrade he means a member of his political party.
“Although … of late, he is no longer a member of that political party.
Mkhwanazi said Mchunu had “invited someone who does not have political standing to be involved in policy matters”, adding: “He is going to have serious consequences going forward.”
The Madlanga commission has summoned Mogotsi to respond to the allegations levelled against him.
Mkhwanazi told MPs he had been subjected to media attacks during Khan’s disciplinary hearing earlier this year. He said the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption, a specialised unit under the National Prosecuting Authority, was used to target him on trumped-up charges.
According to Mkhwanazi the ploy involved journalists who were mobilised to write negative stories about him when he voiced his complaints about the disbandment of the political killings task team.
The KwaZulu-Natal police boss said Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi’s crime prevention wardens — also known as “amapanyaza” — were illegal and should not form part of the police service. Mkhwanazi questioned officials about using policing to gain political points.
He told the committee he was unaware of Ramaphosa’s reported dissatisfaction with the political killings task team but noted the president had applauded it in the media.
Mkhwanazi said the team had been established in 2018 after Ramaphosa visited KwaZulu-Natal amid escalating assassinations of local councillors and political figures. He added that this had led to the arrest of several police officers implicated in political killings and corruption. National police commissioner Fannie Masemola has told the Madlanga commission that the task team’s arrest of Matlala and Molefe triggered Mchunu’s sudden directive to disband the unit. He said this move undermined investigations and was “an overreach into SAPS [South African Police Service] operational matters”.