KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner, Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, has concluded his testimony at the Madlanga Commission in Pretoria. During his testimony, Mkhwanazi again claimed Police Minister, Senzo Mchunu, had ties with an alleged criminal syndicate that infiltrated law enforcement agencies.

[HAPPENING NOW]
Day 3 of the Madlanga Commission has commenced. First on the agenda is the matter of businessman Brown Mokgotsi’s ties with suspended police minister Senzo Mchunu. Watch the live broadcast on SABC News. pic.twitter.com/6XvaqwOpv4

— SABC News (@SABCNews) September 19, 2025

He says he felt a responsibility to the people of South Africa to expose the problem.

Mkhwanazi told the commission that he wore combat fatigues during his July media conference because he could no longer sit back and watch criminals take over government.

“The threat, the enemy that has infiltrated Crime Intelligence is infiltrating parliament and is controlling our executive authority and going into the heart of police operations and police investigations. To date, as I am speaking to you, the Matlalas and the likes, as you might see if you can go and see in the records, cases withdrawn against Matlala are more than 18 in this province. You really realise that you can no longer face this fight and wear a tie,” says Mkhwanazi.

[HAPPENING NOW]
Day 3 of the Madlanga Commission has commenced. First on the agenda is the matter of businessman Brown Mokgotsi’s ties with suspended police minister Senzo Mchunu. Watch the live broadcast on SABC News. pic.twitter.com/6XvaqwOpv4

— SABC News (@SABCNews) September 19, 2025

Mkhwanazi has also told the Madlanga Commission in Pretoria that he felt he had a responsibility to the people of South Africa to bring to the fore political interference and corruption within law enforcement agencies.

He has alleged that there is political interference in these institutions and says he has encountered challenges since 2011 when he was acting National Police Commissioner.

VIDEO | Madlanga Commission | Canny Maphanga wraps day 3 of Mkhwanazi’s testimony

“I highlighted in the media on the 6th of July, it was a history repeating itself to my assessment. And I said it cannot be that I allowed the Zuma era, the Minister Mthethwa era, and under President Zuma to happen like that, that it’s happening again now, and I keep quiet. I have a responsibility to bring this to the attention of the executive authority and to parliament. And in failing that, I was left with no choice to tell the people that employed me, which are the citizens of South Africa, that what’s going on in our system,” he says.

Meanwhile, Mkhwanazi has raised concerns about the return of suspended General Shadrack Sibiya to the police.

Sibiya returned to the police service in 2022 as the Deputy National Commissioner responsible for Crime Detection after he was dismissed from the Hawks in 2015 for the alleged illegal rendition of Zimbabwean nationals. However, the Labour Court found his dismissal procedurally unfair.

Mkhwanazi says he raised the concerns over Sibiya’s return to the police service.

“It is strange that the same organisation that dismissed this man a year later when he applies to court, the same organisation doesn’t appeal and file papers to oppose the court process. The same organisation brings him back and promotes him, a year later. I don’t know what he has done on his performance that was so exceptional on his term when he comes back, despite this warning, that justified this promotion, to get into this position,” he adds.

VIDEO | Madlanga Commission of Inquiry: Day 3