Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, KwaZulu-Natal police chief, says he was aware that his 6 July press conference exposing alleged criminality and political interference would put him in the crosshairs – but he felt he “couldn’t keep quiet.”
Speaking at day two of the Madlanga Commission into criminality, political interference, and corruption in Pretoria, Mkhwanazi said: “I made these allegations of impropriety and criminality on the part of some against the persons serving the different arms of government and within the entire law enforcement, and that includes some members of the business communities and some politicians.”
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He stressed that his allegations were based on facts supported by ongoing investigations: “This then suggested that indeed there are some people that are involved in trying to frustrate the police work that will involve politicians and evidence yhat shows police officers are involved.”
Mkhwanazi criticized suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu’s decision to disband the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT), calling it “irrational” because the PKTT was “unmatched” in its detention and conviction rates.
He also revealed that after the briefing he discovered that businessman Brown Mogotsi, linked to “cartel member” Cat Matlala, was an associate of Mchunu.
“ I knew that when I did the briefing, the target on my back would grow exponentially, but I couldn’t keep quiet,” he said
