Madlanga Commission: Will Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi Finally Expose SAPS Corruption?

South Africans woke up this morning with a sense of anticipation and unease. At 10 a.m., KwaZulu-Natal’s hard-nosed provincial commissioner, Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, is expected to take the stand at the newly launched Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Criminality, Political Interference, and Corruption in the Criminal Justice System.

For months, whispers of a “dirty war” inside SAPS have gripped the country. Today, those whispers may become testimony.

From Camouflage to Commission

This moment didn’t arrive out of nowhere. On July 6, Mkhwanazi shocked South Africans when he appeared before the media in full Special Task Force camouflage, flanked by heavily armed officers. He declared he was in “combat mode” not against gangs on the streets, but against the rot he claimed was festering at the very top of the police service.

In that explosive briefing, he pointed fingers at Police Minister Senzo Mchunu and Deputy National Commissioner Shadrack Sibiya, alleging political interference, protection of criminal networks, and the deliberate shelving of 121 case dockets. Among them were files ready for arrests, cases now gathering dust in Pretoria.

“I chose the combating side of policing,” Mkhwanazi said that day. “And I understand the war we are fighting involves high-level officers.”

A Web of Allegations

According to Mkhwanazi, what his now-disbanded Political Killings Task Team uncovered was not just routine corruption but a national syndicate. He claims the network stretched from drug cartels to Parliament itself, with senior politicians, business figures, and police officers implicated.

Among the names mentioned: businessman Vuzimusi “Cat” Matlala, who landed a R360 million SAPS contract in 2024, and Brown Mokgotsi, allegedly given access to confidential SAPS documents while tied to Mchunu. Both men deny wrongdoing.

Mkhwanazi also accused Mchunu of misleading Parliament about his ties to Mokgotsi, first denying knowing him, then later admitting they were “comrades” from the North West.

The task team, set up in 2018 to tackle political assassinations in KwaZulu-Natal, was officially dissolved earlier this year right as it began probing links between political figures and organised crime. For Mkhwanazi, the timing is no coincidence.

A Minister on Leave, a Nation on Edge

The fallout was swift. President Cyril Ramaphosa placed Mchunu on paid leave, appointed Professor Firoz Cachalia as acting police minister, and announced the creation of this very commission, chaired by retired Constitutional Court Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga.

Today’s hearing will set the tone. Mkhwanazi is first on the witness list, and the public is bracing for a no-holds-barred account.

The Price of Truth

But while the public wants answers, there’s already unease about the cost. Taxpayers will foot a R147.9 million bill for the Madlanga Commission over the next two years. Critics have raised the familiar worry: will this be another expensive report that gathers dust, like so many commissions before it?

Political parties have already voiced doubts, warning that unless the inquiry leads to real accountability, it risks becoming a costly exercise in theatre.

Public Reaction: “We’ve Heard It Before”

On social media, frustration and cynicism run high. Some users say they’ve seen this movie before, from state capture to countless commissions that exposed wrongdoing but left the guilty untouched. Others are cheering Mkhwanazi on, hailing him as the rare police general willing to put his career on the line to defend the badge.

The tension lies between hope and hard-earned scepticism.

Will This Be Different?

South Africans know their country has no shortage of inquiries. The question is whether this one, led by Justice Madlanga, can cut through the noise and force real change in a criminal justice system that many believe is compromised from within.

As Mkhwanazi prepares to testify, one thing is certain: if he speaks with the same candour he displayed in July, the commission’s opening day could shake SAPS and the political establishment, to its core.

{Source: IOL}

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