Cachalia pledges criminal justice ‘reset’ during heated SONA debate

By Johnathan Paoli

Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia has announced government plans to “reset” the country’s criminal justice system and policing, describing it as the most decisive intervention against corruption and organised crime in more than a decade.

Speaking during the parliamentary debate on the State of the Nation Address (SONA), Cachalia confirmed immediate security deployments and concrete steps to implement the findings of the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry.

Addressing a joint sitting of Parliament, he said President Cyril Ramaphosa had placed public safety and institutional integrity at the centre of the country’s future.

“With respect to the fight against corruption, violent crime and organised crime, including gang violence and illegal mining, the President’s SONA address on 12 February was, in my opinion, the most significant in the last decade,” Cachalia said.

He confirmed that the security cluster’s senior leadership had already acted and that specialised policing capacity would be