By Thapelo Molefe
The uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) has demanded urgent accountability from President Cyril Ramaphosa following revelations at the Madlanga Commission that he allegedly instructed the deployment of elite police units to provide private security for Richards Bay Minerals (RBM).
Testifying under oath last Friday, KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi said Ramaphosa directed National Commissioner Fannie Masemola to deploy the Special Task Force (STF) and National Intervention Unit (NIU) to protect the mining company.
Both units are among South Africa’s most specialised divisions, ordinarily reserved for counterterrorism, high-risk operations, and national security threats.
Mkhwanazi told the inquiry his team had investigated the 2021 murder of RBM general manager Nico Swart, who was gunned down on his way to work.
After a year-long probe, police arrested a suspect linked to the killing, but the man was murdered while out on bail before he could testify—derailing hopes of a conviction.
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