By Thapelo Molefe
KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi will take on a national organised crime role while staying in charge in the province.
eNCA reported on Friday that the Lieutenant-General said investigators had already identified the alleged “Big Five” network.
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The development was first reported by eNCA senior reporter Dasen Thathiah, who posted on X that Mkhwanazi had said during Friday’s unveiling of the new SAPS forensic laboratory in Durban that he would soon be leading a national crime-fighting project.
In a later post, eNCA journalist Pule Letshwiti-Jones said Mkhwanazi had told Thathiah that the “BIG 5” had been identified and would be “neutralised” soon, with a team already operating in Pretoria and prioritising key dockets.
Mkhwanazi said the new assignment would not remove him from his current post.
“I’m still a provincial commissioner in the province,” he told eNCA, adding that the role would require him to perform an “oversight role in fighting organised crime” while continuing to carry KZN responsibilities. He said he would still be working in the province while moving around the country to coordinate both roles.
The move comes just weeks after SAPS confirmed Mkhwanazi’s reappointment as KwaZulu-Natal provincial commissioner on a new five-year fixed-term contract following consultation.
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In testimony before the Madlanga Commission in September 2025, Mkhwanazi said the KwaZulu-Natal political killings task team had helped secure the arrests of Katiso Molefe and Vusimusi “Cat” Matlala, two figures he linked to the alleged network.
In later parliamentary testimony, he said he would not publicly name the other three alleged members because they had not yet appeared in court.