By Johnathan Paoli
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision to establish a special investigations task team to urgently probe allegations emerging from the Madlanga Commission has become the centrepiece of the state’s response to mounting claims of corruption, criminality, and political interference within the country’s criminal justice system.
The task team, announced in the wake of the submission of the Commission’s interim report in December last year, has been mandated to fast-track criminal and disciplinary investigations against senior SAPS officers and current and former officials linked to the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality who were found to have prima facie cases to answer.
Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia confirmed that the task team would work alongside existing law-enforcement structures but with a specific focus on the individuals identified by the Commission; stressing that the interim findings had crossed a threshold that justified immediate action.
“On the basis of that evidence, we are now able to initiate disciplinary processes as well as to set up a special investigation team with a mandate to investigate criminal conduct on the basis of these prima facie findings,” Cachalia said in a recent SABC interview.
He added that he had also recommended that the implicated officers be placed on precautionary suspension while investigations are under way.
According to the Presidency, the special investigations task team will be led by a yet to be confirmed senior official who will report directly to SAPS National Commissioner General Fannie Masemola.
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Ramaphosa instructed Cachalia and Masemola to constitute the unit as a matter of urgency, stressing that delays would further erode public trust in law-enforcement institutions.
In its interim report, the Commission identified prima facie evidence of wrongdoing by five SAPS members: Major Generals Lesetja Senona and Richard Shibiri, Brigadiers Mbangwa Nkhwashu and Rachel Matjeng, and Sergeant Fannie Nkosi.
It also flagged nine current and former Ekurhuleni officials, including suspended EMPD Chief Commissioner Julius Mkhwanazi, several metro police officers, former city manager Imogen Mashazi, and senior legal and human resources officials.
The allegations referred for investigation range from corruption and fraud to perjury and murder.
Ramaphosa has emphasised that the allegations contained in the interim report remain prima facie and do not constitute final findings.
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Several implicated individuals are still expected to return to the Commission to respond to the claims against them, and further witnesses are due to testify.
In a related announcement, spokesperson for the President, Vincent Magwenya has stated that the Presidency has decided to wait for suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu to return to the commission, and respond to additional allegations, before making a decision on the subsequent legal course.
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