Cedrick Nkabinde’s name was brought into the spotlight this week when KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi spoke at a parliamentary inquiry session about how he rose through the ranks from a police officer dealing with dockets to suspended police minister Senzo Mchunu’s chief of staff.

Mkhwanazi said he had personally met Mchunu in a meeting over coffee arranged by Nkabinde at his house before he was appointed as the minister of police in 2024.

“He personally wanted to introduce me to the minister of Water Affairs, so I drove with him to his house,” Mkhwanazi said, noting that Nkabinde was unemployed at the time.

Nkabinde’s trajectory from law enforcement to ministerial advisor illustrates a significant pattern in South Africa’s governance ecosystem, where the lines between policing, investigation, and political appointments often blur.

His case has drawn particular attention amid ongoing concerns about political interference in law enforcement agencies and questions about the integrity of appointments to key positions.

Mkhwanazi said Nkabinde told him he came to know Mchunu while investigating a case that occurred when he was still premier.

“There was a death of someone in KZN, and the minister at the time was accused of having interfered with the destruction of crucial evidence,” he stated.

“The relationship between him and the minister was formed out of an investigation that Nkabinde was doing,” he said, adding that he is unsure why Mchunu was not arrested at the time.

Mkhwanazi said it was apparent on the day of the meeting at Mchunu’s house that the minister was close to Nkabinde.

“When he called him and asked him to be chief of staff, Nkabinde called me to ask what a chief of staff does because he had no clue,” said Mkhwanazi, adding that this was before Mchunu was sworn in as police minister.

In reaction, Mkhwanazi said he advised Nkabinde that the position dealt with administration and he was not sure if he would be able to give advice on strategic issues.

However, he said at first he believed that Nkabinde would be serving Mchunu as minister of Water and not minister of Police.

Mkhwanazi further explained that he met Nkabinde through an investigator he knew while working at IPID, who was also a relative of Mkhwanazi’s colleague.

“I got to know Nkabinde through him and became close with Nkabinde as well.”

Mkhwanazi went on to recount what Nkabinde had told him about his time at IPID.

He explained that there was trouble involving Nkabinde at IPID, which was headed by Robert McBride at the time, and he left partly because he did not like the way the unit was being run.

“The relationship between me and him (Nkabinde) was more of a colleague relationship,” said Mkhwanazi, adding that he does not know much about his private life.

In a briefing on Thursday, Nkabinde confirmed that he is still the chief of staff, but someone else will be performing his duties while he focuses on testifying at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry into corruption, criminality, and political interference within the justice system in South Africa.

Detailing his career, Nkabinde said he joined the police force in 2004 and rose up the ranks to become a detective.

He was then promoted to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID), formerly known as the Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD), as a captain and senior investigator.

During this time, he said he studied for a national diploma in policing before completing a BTech degree in policing.

Nkabinde said he was then promoted to assistant director before leaving IPID in September 2018.

He then went into the private sector, where he was a forensic manager for different banks.

“When minister Mchunu nominated me to be appointed chief of staff, I was employed. I was head of forensics in a certain bank,” he said.

Nkabinde emphasised that while Mchunu nominated him for the position, he had no role in the appointment process.

He said all human resource management and Department of Public Service and Administration processes were followed in his appointment.

“I even more than qualify with my experience and with my BTech degree. The minimum requirements to become a chief of staff, which is a chief director, is a degree I do possess,” he stated.

He added that he has a number of years of experience as a supervisor and manager.

With regard to his relationship with Mkhwanazi, Nkabinde said they were very close friends who partied together.

Nkabinde said while working in the private sector, Mkhwanazi visited him at his workplace and attended year-end functions.

KZN Violence Monitor, Mary de Haas, said all she could say with certainty is that he was at IPID in a senior position but in a faction opposing McBride.

In the briefing, Nkabinde said he voluntarily resigned from IPID after reaching a settlement agreement.

“In any organisation, there will sometimes be a disagreement or even fights, so we had a fallout at some stage.”

karen.singh@inl.co.za

Source link