South Africans have long suspected corruption and political interference in the police force, but in the past few months allegations have emerged in two public investigations.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is currently examining the contents of an interim report from a commission he set up to investigate illegality within the police.
It was formed after senior police officer Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkwanazi alleged in July that organized crime groups had infiltrated the government.
His dramatic intervention led to Police Minister Senzo Mchunu being placed on special leave.
Lieutenant-General Mkhwanazi, who heads police in KwaZulu-Natal province, claimed Mchunu had ties to crime bosses and that was why he closed down the elite unit that investigated political murders.
Mchunu, a senior member of Ramaphosa’s African National Congress party and a close ally of the president, has denied any wrongdoing.
But to investigate the allegations, Ramaphosa asked retired Constitutional Court judge Mbuyisile Madlanga to head a public inquiry. Parliament in Cape Town set up its own committee to investigate the matter.
“As I see it now, this is terrorism,” General Mkhwanazi, the Madlanga commission’s first witness, said in September.
These are “people who want to take over the government, not through ballot papers but through these criminal activities.”
During the three months of parallel investigations, South Africans heard about an alleged drug gang with political connections and a businessman awaiting trial on charges of attempted murder, with alleged ties to prominent government figures. A witness at the Madlanga Commission was also killed after giving evidence.
Here’s what we’ve learned so far:
The role of the “Big Five Cartel”
Among the most astonishing pieces of evidence was testimony given by police crime intelligence chief Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo.
Appearing before the Madlanga Commission during the first month of hearings, Lt. Gen. Khumalo alleged that there was a drug trafficking cartel, headed by individuals he called the “Big Five,” operating in several provinces, “that had infiltrated the political sphere.”
He named two of the five alleged leaders of this criminal gang, one of whom is controversial businessman Vusimosi “Cat” Matlala.
Matlala currently faces 25 criminal charges, including attempted murder.
These stem from three separate incidents that occurred between 2022 and 2024. He has denied all charges.
The crime intelligence chief claimed the Big Five led a network with widespread influence across the country.
He claimed it was a cartel operating both domestically and abroad that mainly dealt in drugs but also carried out contract killings “linked to drug trafficking operations” and cross-border kidnappings and hijackings.
This cartel had tentacles within the country’s criminal justice system, allowing them to “manipulate investigations and suppress evidence.” [and] “Obstructing legal proceedings that threaten their activities,” Lt. Gen. Khumalo added.
It was this group that was allegedly behind the dissolution of the Political Killing Task Force (PKTT), which operated mainly in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal provinces.
This was because the cartel “mistakenly believed that the PKTT was investigating them,” Lt. Gen. Khumalo told the committee.
“The Big Five have already penetrated the political sphere and there are documented cases of high-level relations in the political arena,” the policeman claimed.
Another witness in the Madlanga Commission was part of the PKTT. The unidentified man – known only as “Witness C” – also mentioned what he called the Big Five cartel, claiming to have “total control and oversight” over every government department.
Who is “Cat” Matlala?
Vusimosi “Cat” Matlala spent two days giving evidence at the parliamentary inquiry [Gallo Images via Getty Images]
One of the most important accusations leveled against the suspended Police Minister is his alleged close relationship with “Cat” Matlala.
At the Madlanga commission, Mkhwanazi repeated claims he made at a press conference in July that Mchunu was indirectly receiving financial support from the businessman to fund his “political endeavours”.
He shared copies of the text messages and the amount Matlala allegedly paid to prove it at the time. These payments appear to have been facilitated by a third party.
During his appearance before the Madlanga Commission, Mchunu refuted the allegations, saying he had “never been accused of corruption, not once.”
“This is the first time I have been accused of this.”
Matlala had a lucrative contract with the police before it was abruptly canceled when he was charged with attempted murder in May.
In 2001, he was convicted and served a prison sentence for possession of stolen goods.
Over the years, he has been arrested for a series of alleged crimes, including house robbery, cash theft and assault, but in all cases he denied involvement and was acquitted or the charges against him were withdrawn.
While appearing before the parliamentary inquiry, Matlala said that he turned his life around in 2017, when he “officially registered my first project, which was a security job.”
Now in custody for attempted murder, he testified with shackles around his ankles. Over the course of his two-day testimony before MPs, Matlala revealed his description of relationships with former and current ministers as well as senior police officials.
Aside from being accused of having close ties with Mchunu, Matlala has been associated with others in the police force.
He denied personally knowing senior police officers and politicians, but admitted making payments for activities linked to the ANC.
“From what I understand, Your Excellency [Mchunu] sender [a third party] “I go asking for donations here and there, and I was one of them,” Matlala told MPs.
He also told the parliamentary committee that after authorities returned the firearms they confiscated from him, former police minister Bheki Cele demanded a “facilitation fee” of 1 million rand ($60,000, £45,000) and only paid her half the amount. Mr Matlala alleged that Cele also requested this money to stop police harassment.
Cele, who testified before Matlala appeared before the parliamentary committee, admitted to MPs that he had known Matlala for two months, and that he had stayed at his apartment twice as these were “free gifts”.
But he denied receiving money from Matlala.
Mr Matlala has not yet appeared at the Madlanga committee, but is expected to have the opportunity to speak there sometime next year.
But several witnesses painted a different picture of Mr. Matlala’s relationship with the police.
Witness C told the Madlanga Commission that Mr Matlala had “close relationships with the elderly [police] Officials” and detailed the extent of the matter after police arrested him in May.
The witness alleged that Mr Matlala contributed money to the now-suspended police minister’s presidential ambitions within the ANC, even though he did not believe he would win.
The commission’s witness was later killed
One of the witnesses at the Madlanga Commission was killed in early December, just three weeks after giving evidence.
It is not clear whether the two events are related.
Marius van der Merwe, identified only as “Witness D” during his appearance, was murdered in full view of his family.
He had just returned home in the evening and was shot dead while waiting for the front gate to open. No arrests have been made, but police have identified three persons of interest. The motive for the shooting is unclear.
Authorities confirmed the identity of Mr Van der Merwe, a former police officer who ran a private security company, after his murder.
During his appearance before Judge Madlanga, he implicated officials, including Brigadier General Julius Mkwanazi (no relation to Nhlanhla Mkwanazi), who was the police chief in an area including parts of Johannesburg.
Retired judge Mbuyiseli Madlanga will preside over further hearings in the new year and will then submit a final report [Gallo via Getty Images]
There he claimed that Brigadier Mkhwanazi had ordered him to dispose of the body of a man accused of robbery who had allegedly been tortured and killed by police officers.
Commenting, Mr van der Merwe told the committee: “I didn’t really have the opportunity to agree. I felt like I was being forced.”
In his testimony, Brigadier Mkhwanazi denied any involvement in the case, including the alleged disposal of the body. Instead, he told the committee he was called to a crime scene within the municipality and remained there for “two to three minutes.”
Mr van der Merwe’s death after giving evidence sparked outrage across South Africa.
The targeting of whistleblowers has become common in the country, with human rights groups such as Human Rights Watch noting that “many face retaliation, loss of livelihoods, and even loss of life.”
The authorities revealed that Mr. Van der Merwe had refused witness protection after his testimony before the committee.
Where things stand now
Vincent Magwenya, Ramaphosa’s spokesman, said Justice Madlanga’s interim report would not be published because “it is not helpful to start… discussing something that is incomplete.”
The final report, expected to be issued next year, “will be available to the public.”
“Commissioner will [however] He added in a press conference for reporters: “We advise the president on areas that are sensitive to national security and how those areas should be managed.”
The Madlanga Committee carries out its work in three stages: The first stage gave witnesses an opportunity to present their allegations.
The second phase, currently underway, allows those implicated by evidence submitted to the investigation, such as Mchunu, to respond to the allegations made against them.
The final stage will call the witnesses mentioned in the first stage to clarify or add additions to their statements.
The Madlanga Committee was given six months to complete its work and submit a final report, but this period could be extended “as determined by the President,” according to its terms of reference. It is not clear how long the parliamentary inquiry will last, but it is also expected to resume hearings in 2026.
South Africans will now have to wait until sometime next year to read the findings and recommendations from both investigations. The question they ask is whether these measures are enough to force the government to deal with the problems that critics say exist in the police.
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[Getty Images/BBC]
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