Matisonn: Will CR really clean out the Augean stables this time?

Key topics:Allegations expose deep criminal infiltration of senior police leadershipMadlanga Commission reveals corruption, killings, and political interferenceRamaphosa faces defining test to purge police and save his legacy.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 at 5:30am 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.Whether KwaZulu-Natal General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi proves to be as unsullied as he claims or not, his bombshell allegations have already exposed a criminal network’s shockingly widespread infiltration of the most senior police leadership, and likely ended the career of a presidential candidate.South Africa owes Mkhwanazi a debt of gratitude. He has forced us to confront the web of police generals, political masters and their go-betweens that have compromised the criminal justice system fundamentally.Hearings on his claims have shown that the crisis in the criminal justice system is far more serious than even the most cynical insiders appreciated. There has been evidence of a police murder of a suspect and its cover-up. One witness has been killed, followed by several attempted murders, and police have been widely tainted by their connections to criminals. One bright spot has been the first-rate handling of evidence by the three inquiry commissioners led by Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, as well as the commission’s evidence leaders. The high ethical and legal standards of the jurists contrasts brutally with the bumbling and ethical gobbledygook offered by some police generals.At the centre of the network is Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala, alleged to be a major crime kingpin now in prison on a charge of attempted murder, who spun his web around police and politicians wherever he needed them.His influence and connections are so great that he was quite at home in at police headquarters, visiting the offices of the national commissioner, General Fannie Masemola, his deputy, General Shadrack Sibiya, the head of organised crime, Major-General Richard Shibiri and others who made him welcome. In KwaZulu-Natal, he befriended the provincial head of the Hawks, General Lesetja Senona, and in Ekhuruleni, the city’s police chief, General Julius Mkhwanazi. Generals Senona and Mkhwanazi were so close to Matlala they both called him their brother. Former police minister Bheki Cele was his houseguest.According to the evidence, everywhere he went, Matlala greased palms. When he needed a favour, he had millions to spend thanks to his government contracts.Then there is Brigadier Rachel Matjeng, conveniently placed as section head for quality management, who denied evidence she used her position to help him in return for hundreds of thousands of rands he gave her. Matjeng claims Matlala’s large payments were purely romantic tokens of a lover’s affection. She also relayed messages between Matlala and a former national police commissioner, General Khomotso Phahlane. A number of senior police officers sent Matlala internal police documents, including the notice that the political killing task force was to be disbanded on the orders of Mchunu..The accumulated evidence against Mchunu must mark the end of his political career. It will be the steepest fall from grace since Dr Connie Mulder, then heir apparent to prime Minister John Vorster in 1978. Before the Mkhwanazi allegations, Mchunu appeared to have the backing of President Cyril Ramaphosa to succeed him.Crime intelligence officer Witness E alleged that Mchunu made multiple calls to him as late as December last year in efforts to change his testimony to the commission itself.One of the witnesses against Mchunu was KwaZulu-Natal acting deputy provincial commissioner for crime detection Anthony Gopaul, who described a visit by Mchunu to a police station in ANC regalia to press for the arrest of a local politician who had crossed the floor from the ANC to the MKP. “I went to the police station and found the minister with a few of the ANC officials, all of them clad in ANC regalia and they were in the office of the station commander,” Gopaul said.Gopaul found it “a bit odd and mischievous” that the politician’s alleged criminal conduct was raised only after he had defected from the ANC to the MK party.Another police officer, Witness E, told the commission Mchunu tried to implicate crime intelligence head General Dumisani Khumalo and former police minister Bheki Cele in a murder case.The Madlanga Commission submitted an interim report to the president which recognised the urgency of action. Its recommendations for investigation include some police officers who have not yet testified, based on evidence gathered prior to their testimony. President Ramaphosa has recognised the seriousness of the evidence and ordered a deeper and speedier process than he did after the Zondo Commission. He has appointed a police task force and referred 14 people to it for “immediate criminal investigation and urgent decisions on prosecution”.The list includes Generals Senona, Julius Mkhwanazi, Sibiya, Shibiri and Brigadier Matjeng, and Dr Imogen Mashazi, Ekurhuleni’s town manager. The scope of the evidence and the obvious unsuitability of many in the police leadership as evident from their testimony require a massive cleanout, but Ramaphosa has never acted that way as president.Now his political legacy depends on sweeping out the Augean stables. Researchers point out that better qualified police officers have been side-lined and could be brought in to change the culture and raise the professionalism of the police. Ramaphosa has been in office eight years, and he has anywhere between two and three and a half years before the end of his presidency. A firm cleanout is required. It is a last chance to redeem his presidency, and it is essential to South Africa’s future. Will he do it?

Matisonn: Will CR really clean out the Augean stables this time?

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