Mkhwanazi links crime intelligence abuses to Nathi Mthethwa era

By Marcus Moloko

KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi has once again alleged that the South African Police Service’s (SAPS) Crime Intelligence division has long manipulated executive authorities to buy influence and secure favours.

Mkhwanazi pointed to a 2011 incident involving the construction of a perimeter wall around the late South African ambassador to France and former Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa’s private residence, a project he claimed was illicitly funded through Crime Intelligence’s covert accounts.

“The minister [Mthethwa] never asked for the wall,” Mkhwanazi told the Ad Hoc Committee probing the allegations he made of police corruption and interference.

“Members of the Crime Intelligence took the money secretly to build it; not for security, but to control the minister. This way, they could loot that money themselves, and the minister couldn’t object.”

According to a 2012 Auditor-General report, the wall cost an estimated R200,000 and was paid for using funds from the SAPS Secret Service Account.

In a frank response, Mkhwanazi warned that ministers often become compromised not by intent but through manipulation by corrupt insiders within the security establishment.

He also revealed that current Police Minister Senzo Mchunu was coerced by rogue officials into signing a letter, a move that placed him in a politically precarious position.

“If he didn’t sign that letter, he would not have been here,” Mkhwanazi said.

“Some executive officials come in with no bad intentions, but the rogues within take control and act as they please.”

Mkhwanazi also warned of a systemic rot that extends beyond individual cases, implicating oversight bodies like the Inspector General of Intelligence (IGI) and the Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence (JSCI), which he accused of failing to act on repeated reports of abuse.

His testimony continues.

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