John Matisonn: 'Police are scared of criminals' – Mkhwanazi

Key topics:Inquiry reveals police generals fearful of crime kingpins and networksSuspended minister shut task force, possibly enabling criminal protectionSibiya seen as poised to control security cluster, risking state takeover.Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox every morning on weekdays. Register here.Support South Africa's bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here..By John Matisonn.The ad hoc parliamentary inquiry into the police painted a picture of police generals scared of crime kingpins, a police minister who shut down a task force to stop prosecutions, and the potential ascension to leadership of General Shadrack Sibiya, allegedly opening the door to criminal control of the justice system.In his final appearance, the man who started it all, KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, was at his most confident and relaxed, as if he was finally comfortable that he had got it all off his chest. Mkhwanazi is convinced the motive behind the decision by suspended police Minister Senzo Mchunu to shut down the Political Killings Task Team was to stop prosecution of crime kingpins. But he softened his allegations to conclude he may have been an “enabler” rather than himself part of the network. .Read more:.Matisonn: General Sibiya and the moral fog at police HQ.“Our leaders may not be in the bad things, but they get captured and used,” Mkhwanazi said. Nevertheless, he did not pull his punches on the core issues. “Mchunu was captured to end up writing that letter” that closed the task force and for the appointment of a new head of crime intelligence to be suspended.In so, he said Mchunu should come clean and admit the idea was not his alone, as he has claimed.Mchunu issued a statement soon afterwards denying these allegations: “I would like to reiterate that I am not part of any criminal syndicate of any kind. I am part of those who are fighting against corruption in the country and my record in government speaks for itself.” Mkhwanazi argued that there are criminal networks more powerful than the Big Five he spoke about, which seek to control the security cluster of government ministries and departments, and that if they control the security cluster, they effectively will control the state.He believes Sibiya, who was in pole position to be the next national commissioner, has the network of influence across the security cluster – including key police generals, prosecutors and judges or magistrates – to achieve that outcome.Sibiya would be national commissioner, which he thought would amount to a kind of takeover of government. “If you control the security cluster, you control the country,” he said. And Sibiya had built a network that covered the different security cluster leaderships and paid court to dangerous underworld figures.Mkhwanazi lumped some politicians and journalists in the same camp, not always making a clear distinction between them being unknowingly used to ask the questions by people working for criminals as opposed to culprits.In the case of some magistrates, he argued that where bail conditions exceeded the requirements under the law, it was legitimate to explore whether they had been obtained at. Mchunu’s problems exploded when Ramaphosa finally gave his side of the story, strongly disagreeing with Mchunu’s decision to disband the task force, and contradicting Mchunu’s claim that when he did brief Ramaphosa, the president approved his decision.On the contrary, the president said he conveyed his dissatisfaction to Mchunu during their meeting, particularly at not being consulted, and indicated that he expected to be kept informed of further decisions affecting the work of the unit. Accepting the president’s version means Mchunu misled the inquiry by materially misrepresenting the president’s attitude.Mkhwanazi’s decision to go public with his explosive allegations on July 6 last year was made after Mchunu had refused him several requests to meet about the subject. Mchunu had not consulted the national police commissioner, General Fanie Masemola.Masemola’s role also came under scrutiny. Clearly a weaker character than Mkhwanazi, we now know that Masemola approved the July 6 briefing and the combat uniform Mkhwanazi chose to wear. But the national commissioner chose to stay in the background.Mkhwanazi also had in his sights General Feroz Khan, deputy head of crime intelligence, who he believes also made friends with crime bosses including Vusimuzi Cat Matlala, and attended an expensive gala event of the Economic Freedom Fighters, headed by Julius Malema. In the committee, Malema successfully argued against bringing Khan to testify, and himself stayed away from Mkhwanazi’s final appearance. After Mkhwanazi’s testimony, Mamela objected to suggestions of a link with the EFF. .Read more:.SA’s police at a crossroads: Politics, crime, and the fight for reform."Mkhwanazi is fighting General Khan and every time he fights General Khan, he drags the EFF name,” he said. “Let him fight Khan if they have got their own issues and leave the EFF out of their nonsense because EFF is not part of any nonsense they are fighting about in the police."

John Matisonn: 'Police are scared of criminals' – Mkhwanazi

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