By Johnathan Paoli
KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi is expected to return to Parliament’s ad hoc committee this week, facing questions over allegations of torture and internal power struggles within the South African Police Service.
Among the most serious claims before the committee are allegations that Mkhwanazi was present during the torture of a detainee in a 2024 kidnapping investigation.
Suspended police sergeant Samkeliso Mlotshwa told the committee on Friday that he was assaulted and interrogated while in police custody after being arrested in connection with the kidnapping of KwaDukuza businessman Zakariyya Desai.
Mlotshwa, a member of the SAPS Border Policing Unit who joined the service in 2006, said he was arrested in Mozambique in November 2024 and returned to South Africa days later.
He testified that on 9 December 2024, he and Mozambican co-accused Esmael Nangy were taken from their cells at KwaDukuza police station and driven in private vehicles to a farm, where they were allegedly interrogated by police officers and members of the Hawks.
According to his testimony, Mkhwanazi entered the room during the interrogation and instructed officers to strip him naked and humiliate him in front of his co-accused.
“I was told by the provincial commissioner to undress until I was naked. I was instructed by Mkhwanazi to squat before my co-accused’s private parts,” Mlotshwa said.
He further alleged that he was suffocated with a plastic bag filled with water during the interrogation and pressured to falsely implicate another suspect in the kidnapping.
Mlotshwa claimed he was offered R500,000 and the repair of his burnt home in exchange for a confession.
Separate allegations against Mkhwanazi have also been made by suspended Deputy National Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Shadrack Sibiya, who has repeatedly accused the KwaZulu-Natal police chief of manipulating public opinion and fuelling factional battles within SAPS.
Sibiya has rejected Mkhwanazi’s claims that the removal of 121 case dockets from the Political Killings Task Team undermined investigations into organised crime.
He told MPs that the decision to transfer the dockets to SAPS headquarters followed directives linked to the restructuring of the task team and added that many of the cases had already become dormant.
Sibiya suggested that Mkhwanazi’s high-profile public campaign against alleged corruption within the police was part of an internal leadership struggle ahead of the eventual retirement of national police commissioner Fannie Masemola.
“Personally, quite honestly speaking, this has nothing to do with the 121 dockets and the disbanded political killing task team. According to me, it’s about the succession battle within the police,” he said.
The suspended deputy commissioner repeated similar claims at the Madlanga Commission, where he alleged that Mkhwanazi’s public profile and online support were unusual for a serving police commissioner and suggested that the commissioner had built a powerful following on social media.
Sibiya has also accused Mkhwanazi of exaggerating or misrepresenting the significance of the task team’s work and using the issue to portray himself as a whistle-blower exposing corruption within the police.
The parliamentary committee is examining a range of allegations involving senior law enforcement officials, including claims of criminal conduct, political interference and internal factional battles within SAPS.
Masemola is due to testify before the committee on Tuesday, with Mkhwanazi expected to appear thereafter.
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