OPINION| Madlanga Commission vs ad hoc committee: results over theatrics and delays

By Johnathan Paoli

South Africa has spent 14 months investigating the allegations laid bare by KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi in July last year.

There have been hearings, affidavits, evidence leaders, political grandstanding, thousands of pages of documents and enough competing versions to fill a small archive.

But strip away the noise and a glaring picture emerges: the Madlanga Commission has moved evidence into the criminal justice system, while Parliament is still trying to agree on what its own investigation should say.

That difference raises an important question about whether Parliament’s oversight machinery is delivering accountability – or simply generating more paperwork.

Last year, President Cyril Ramaphosa authorised the establishment of the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry, and Parliament created an ad hoc committee to similarly look into the matter.

While the commission has produced referrals that have fed directly into criminal investigations, the ad hoc committee is still arguing