Senior officials stall investigations of artists' murders: Mkhwanazi
Mkhwanazi said senior officials protecting the interests of criminal networks tied to drug cartels are behind the stalling of the investigations.
Speaking to the media on Sunday, Mkhwanazi said firearms recovered in Gauteng have been forensically linked to the killings of prominent local artists dating as far back as 2021.
'I'm not saying which type of artists, but the prominent South African artists that were murdered, their cases haven't been resolved to date.
'At least in our case, we made an arrest that is known in public about the murder of AKA and his friend. But in Gauteng, we haven't had much [luck]. We now know that these firearms are linked to the murders of some of those artists. So the decision must now be taken that these people must be prosecuted, because I now know who the suspects are that are involved,' said Mkhwanazi.
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Daily Maverick
2 hours ago
- Daily Maverick
SAPS commissioner accuses police minister of derailing probe into political killings
KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi has alleged that senior figures, including Police Minister Senzo Mchunu, undermined investigations into political killings and organised crime. Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, the KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner, on Sunday claimed that the disbandment of the Political Killings Task Team was orchestrated to shield politically connected members of a criminal syndicate from prosecution, with the assistance of Police Minister Senzo Mchunu. Mkhwanazi said, 'I can confirm before South Africans today that the investigation which these members were involved with in Gauteng has unmasked the syndicate, and this syndicate involves, amongst others, politicians who are currently serving in Parliament.' He said some syndicate members were in 'the South African Police Service, the metro police and Correctional Services. They include prosecutors in Gauteng province, the judiciary … and all these are controlled by the drug cartel and businesspeople in Gauteng. This act, of course, undermines the criminal justice system in this country.' In a presentation shared to accompany the briefing, Mkhwanazi outlined the allegations. The Political Killings Task Team was formed after the 2018 assassination of ANC activist Musawenkosi 'Qashana' Mchunu. Backed by a multi-agency presidential task force and praised for its prosecution-led, intelligence-driven strategy, the team had, by 2025, investigated more than 600 politically related dockets, arrested 436 suspects, and recovered 156 firearms, with at least 55 of them linked to political crimes. Convictions to date total over 1,800 years in prison across more than 100 cases. Daily Maverick reported that on 31 December 2024, Police Minister Mchunu issued a letter to National Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Fannie Masemola, requesting that the team be disbanded. The minister said the task team was no longer necessary because it did not add value to policing in the province, according to the SABC. Despite this instruction, Mkhwanazi said at the time he would continue the fight to ensure the task team was allowed to proceed with high-profile investigations. Mkhwanazi said members of the task team were working with detectives in Gauteng on possible cover-ups in murder cases in the province that involved senior police officers. The disbandment of the task team was followed by a series of internal memos from SAPS Crime Detection head Lieutenant General Shadrack Sibiya withdrawing 121 case dockets from the team without the approval of the national or provincial commissioners. These dockets have reportedly sat untouched at the SAPS head office ever since. WhatsApp messages Sunday's briefing included explosive revelations such as WhatsApp messages and screenshots allegedly sourced from the phone of accused businessman Vusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala, showing communication between Matlala, Minister Mchunu and a politically connected intermediary, Brown Mogotsi. The chats suggest knowledge of the task team's disbandment before it was made public, direct discussions of 'solutions' to investigations and apparent financial support for political campaigns and 8 January ANC events. Matlala was arrested by the task team in May and faces charges of attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder and money laundering. Less than two weeks later, the Investigative Directorate Against Corruption moved to seize the task team's exhibits, including Matlala's cellphone, and arrested the team's project coordinator. One of the syndicate suspects arrested by the team, Katiso Molefe, was granted bail. The effect, Mkhwanazi said on Sunday, had been chilling, with the Gauteng investigations into organised crime 'compromised' and confidence in the State's willingness to prosecute politically connected suspects further eroded. The EFF expressed grave concern, saying the briefing laid bare 'the existence of a powerful, organised criminal syndicate operating at the highest levels of the South African state'. The EFF urged the chairperson on Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Police, Ian Cameron, to convene an urgent portfolio committee sitting for a briefing from Mchunu. Cameron said the DA had written to National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza for an urgent debate in Parliament on corruption within the SAPS. 'These disturbing allegations of corruption, political interference and malfeasance at the very top of South Africa's law enforcement and national security infrastructure must be investigated immediately,' said Cameron. 'The President of the republic, who is presently away, must also immediately respond to allegations against a Cabinet minister.' 'Great role model' On social media on Sunday, Eskom board chairperson Mteto Nyati called Mkhwanazi 'a great role model' and said his 'decision to speak out' was 'exemplary'. Build One South Africa (Bosa)said it was 'disturbed by the string of weighty revelations. Of particular concern is General Mkhwanazi's claim that the task team appointed to investigate police killings was deliberately sabotaged from within the South African Police Service (SAPS). If true, this fundamentally undermines the integrity of our criminal justice institutions and threatens public safety. 'His allegations implicate senior police officials, prosecutors, judges, members of Parliament and members of the executive in acts that sabotage law enforcement and enable political killings. 'These are the symptoms of a state in capture crisis, where criminal syndicates and corrupt politicians allegedly operate with impunity.' Bosa joined the growing calls for Mchunu, Mkhwanazi and others involved to urgently appear before Parliament. Mkhwanazi's briefing ended with a call to SAPS members to 'stand up and protect our people against this criminal syndicate', even as he confirmed a formal criminal investigation was under way into the apparent capture of parts of South Africa's criminal justice system. 'Despite all these challenges, we acknowledge and appreciate the resilience of the members of the Political Killings Task Team,' said Mkhwanazi. 'They remain operational, albeit with serious attempts to disrupt their work.' Daily Maverick reached out to Mchunu's spokesperson, Kamogelo Mogotsi, for comment and received a video of the minister saying: 'We have become aware of what General Mkhwanazi has been saying. I didn't have time to look at TV, but there are those statements that he has said. We will, in good time, apply our minds to those kinds of statements.' DM
eNCA
7 hours ago
- eNCA
WATCH: Mkhwanazi makes explosive allegations against police minister
KZN Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi DURBAN - KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi made a series of damning allegations against Police Minister, Senzo Mchunu, and Deputy National Commissioner for Crime Detection, Shadrack Sibiya. Mkhwanazi revealed that evidence found on the phone of accused underworld figure Vusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala links the minister to unauthorised communications through an associate, Brown Mogotsi. Mkhwanazi says Matlala, who was arrested in May for attempted murder, had been awarded a R360-million police contract. Mkhwanazi also claims to have evidence of police involvement in high-profile crime syndicates.
Mail & Guardian
9 hours ago
- Mail & Guardian
Mchunu denies disbanding political killings task team to shield politicians
KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi. Police Minister Mchunu's denials come after KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi said on Sunday at an explosive 'special briefing' that the high profile political killings task team was disbanded because it was closing in on politicians and others who had been linked to a criminal syndicate in Gauteng. Dressed in Special Task Force fatigues, and flanked by armed members of the Special Task Force, Mkhwanazi accused senior police leadership of corruption and obstruction. Mchunu said the 'wild allegations' required 'an urgent, thorough and transparent investigation, on a proper platform'. 'The Minister of Police will never allow his integrity, that of the Ministry or the SAPS at large to be undermined by insinuations made without evidence or due processes, from anyone, including Lieutenant General Mkhwanazi. We will be reviewing the Provincial Commissioner's statements and consider appropriate action,' said Mchunu. He said 121 case dockets were removed from He said five dockets with arrest instructions remain archived in Pretoria. He also said Mchunu had tried to facilitate a meeting between himself and Sibiya to smooth the waters, but that he had no interest in dealing with 'a criminal', referring to Sibiya. In an interview with SABC, after Mkhwanazi made the allegations, Sibiya said the KZN top cop should stop 'threatening people'. Sibiya said that he would respond to the allegations after conferring with his legal team, as he wanted to 'be mature' and 'above the IQ level' of Mkhwanazi. 'I want to respond professionally…without emotion…I will respond to every allegation he has made. None of the allegations he has made are true.' He said Mkhwanazi should stop 'running after the minister and challenging his decisions. I don't know, maybe he should be the minister of police'. '[Mkhwanazi] must stop behaving like a warlord, he is a member of the police,' he said. Mkhwanazi also accused Mchunu of misleading Parliament about his relationship with an associate allegedly linked to organised crime, and specifically to tenderpreneur Vusumuzi 'Cat' Matlala who, despite facing criminal allegations, was awarded lucrative SAPS tenders. As reported by News24, Matlala and his companies were red-flagged by whistleblower Babita Deokaran for corruption linked to a police health services tender, just weeks before she was assassinated. Matlala was under investigation by the Hawks and Special Investigating Unit at the time. He was arrested in June on charges of attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and money laundering, relating to an alleged hit on actress Tebogo Thobejane, which took place in 2023. Matlala's wife, Tsakani, was also arrested, but was granted bail. Mkhwanazi said on Sunday that the political killing task team's work in Gauteng, supporting the Organised Crime Investigation Unit, exposed a syndicate involving politicians, law enforcement, and judicial figures. He said a 2024 case involving the murder of Q-tech employee Armard Swart was found by the task team via ballistic analysis on seized firearms to be linked to high-profile crimes, and that this highlighted the team's effectiveness before its closure. Swart, an engineer, was shot multiple times while seated in his car outside his place of work. He was reportedly mistaken for another employee at the firm, which had uncovered corruption in a Transnet tender. Four men have been arrested for the murder of Swart and will go on trial in August. The fifth suspect, former Transnet employee Lucky Boitumelo Molefe, has been on the run since December 2024. Mkhwanazi alleged there was a plot to destabilise the South African Police Service by targeting National Commissioner Fannie Masemola and framing senior officers to prevent them from exposing crime and corruption. Between June and July, seven members of SAPS's embattled Crime Intelligence Division members were arrested, allegedly relating to the appointment of an unqualified civilian to a senior post. The seven are Lt-Gen Dumisani Khumalo (Divisional Commissioner), Maj-Gen Philani Lushaba (Chief Financial Officer), Maj-Gen Josias Lekalakala (Gauteng Crime Intelligence Head), Maj-Gen Nosipho Madondo (Head of Analysis Centre), Maj-Gen Zwelithini Gabela (Technology Services), Brig Dineo Mokwele (Technical Systems) and Brig Phindile Ncube (Head of Vetting). Several of those arrested are custodians of the Crime Intelligence Secret Services Account — a classified budget intended for covert operations and informant payments, best described as a loosely regulated slush fund because of 'national security' issues. Mkhwanazi implied that some of those who were arrested were being defamed in public and couldn't speak out because they understood the importance of national security. Those who had colluded to arrest them also knew the officers would not speak out, because they could then face charges for breaching national security protocols. Mkhwanazi said a criminal investigation had been launched into the allegations of infiltration and control of the criminal justice system by organised crime syndicates and that the task team remained operational despite attempts to disrupt its work to protect and serve citizens. Ian Cameron, the chairperson of the portfolio committee on police, said on X after Mkhwanazi's briefing that president Cyril Ramaphosa 'must take the lead in addressing these serious allegations involving senior SAPS management and the Minister of Police'. 'I have written to the Speaker of the National Assembly to request an urgent parliamentary debate on the disturbing allegations that emerged today regarding SAPS leadership. 'Serious claims made by KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Commissioner, General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, have exposed what appears to be deep dysfunction and alleged collusion within the senior ranks of the police. 'Parliament and the Presidency must ensure these claims are independently and thoroughly investigated to restore public trust and demonstrate accountability. 'South Africans deserve clear answers. Silence is not an option,' said Cameron.
