Image: Justice and Security Cluster on X
The 11-member ad hoc committee set up to investigate allegations made by KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, commenced with its hearings on 7 October 2025.
As with the currently sitting Madlanga commission of inquiry into the same topic, the first witness was Mkhwanazi.
The committee is chaired by ANC national executive committee member Soviet Lekganyane and includes representatives from the ANC, DA, EFF, MKP, IFP, and PA. It was established in July after the National Assembly adopted a joint report by the Portfolio Committee on Police and the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development, which had met to consider the matter and recommended, among others, the establishment of such a committee.
This in the wake of Mkhwanazi’s allegations, made on 6 July, of the extensive infiltration of and operations within the country’s law enforcement and intelligence structures, by a sophisticated crime syndicate.
Evidence leader Adv Norman Arendse opened the proceedings with a short address, in which he urged a nationwide mindset change regarding corruption – “We need a collective sense of mission to change mindsets and to steer the nation away from a dangerous course. Just as we extricated South Africa from the mire of conflict, we are now called upon to use new tools at our disposal to build a prosperous, truly just and morally upright nation.”
The country has enjoyed democratic governance for over 30 years but, said Arendse, “all this will be little more than the shifting sands of illusion if we do not take decisive measures to strengthen the moral fibre of our nation”.
Such is the urgency of the challenge the country faces, he said.
Attempts to tackle corruption
“It is legitimate for us to examine the root causes of crime and corruption,” Arendse said. “The poverty that stares us in the face. The illegitimacy of the previous order which elevated lawlessness into an honourable deed. The sanctions era which made underhand dealings a glorified national pastime, and the low pay and repressive focus in the security and other public services which turned upon their head the moral standards that these institutions are supposed to uphold.”
The fact that much time is needed to heal these wounds, he added, should not be a hindrance to acting. “This should not result in our being incapacitated. It should not postpone the concrete steps against crime and corruption which we need to take.”
Previous attempts have been made to address the scourge of corruption, Arendse said. Most notable among these is the Zondo Commission, which was established in 2018 by former president Jacob Zuma – himself a major feature of the commission’s four years of hearings – to address state capture.
“Today we again convene at the critical juncture in our democracy as we consider the serious allegations placed before this honourable committee, which strike at the heart of our democracy.”
He briefly recapped Mkhwanazi’s allegations, saying: “These allegations demand a thorough and unflinching examination. Indeed, General Mkhwanazi has alleged political interference in the attempted disestablishment of the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT), suggesting or alleging that there was a deliberate undermining of efforts to combat serious crime, in particular corruption.”
The committee will focus on specific areas defined by its terms of reference, Arendse said. These are:
- to investigate potential political interference.
- to interrogate potentially corrupt relationships involving Police Minister Senzo Mchunu and controversial entrepreneurs Brown Mogotsi and Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala.
- to examine possible procurement irregularities within the South African Police Service (SAPS) and in particular the R360-million SAPS healthcare contract with Medicare24 Tshwane and the role therein of Cat Matlala.
- to assess prosecutorial conduct focusing on the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) and whether its officials unlawfully interfered with police investigations or exceeded their mandate.
- to probe the alleged existence of an organised crime syndicate controlled by drug cartels and its alleged infiltration of key criminal justice system role players.
- to look at the conduct of members of Parliament with regard to classified information and potential links to criminal syndicates.
“Our inquiry must also consider whether Parliament’s own oversight mechanisms have been effective in addressing these issues … This committee has a constitutional duty enshrined in the Constitution to represent the people and to ensure government by the people. It must exercise its power to scrutinise and oversee executive action with diligence and impartiality.”
Fits and starts
The day was marked by something of a false start, after EFF leader Julius Malema pointed out that Mkhwanazi had not submitted a statement to the committee, though he had done so for the Madlanga commission. Because the commission was established by the Executive, which is a separate arm of the state, Malema said, Mkhwanazi should have prepared an original statement and therefore his Madlanga statement, which had been classified as a supplementary affidavit, was not procedurally appropriate for use in parliamentary proceedings.
With other committee members supporting Malema, Lekganyane agreed that Mkhwanazi was not yet properly before the committee, leading to an adjournment and the chamber being cleared while this matter was sorted out behind closed doors.
There were some comments regarding the transparency of this process, but eventually Mkhwanazi was sworn in.
Arendse asked Mkhwanazi to explain the rationale behind, and establishment and threatened disestablishment of, the PKTT, and its operations in the first years of its existence. “I will say the work that the team did was good work, and the results that the team achieved over time was good results that we could be proud of,” Mkhwanazi said. The PKTT’s existence is therefore justified, especially with next year’s local government elections and the political violence that attends such events.
He was also asked to clarify his allegations of criminal infiltration in the justice system, and his allegations that members of Parliament – specifically DA member Dianne Kohler Barnard, whose name was mentioned – leaked sensitive information and asked inappropriate questions about the operations of the Crime Intelligence division.
The committee adjourned after proceedings went on well into the night.
