NATASHA MARRIAN: Betrayal in the ranks?

“There can never be peace between a criminal and a police officer.”

With these words, at a dramatic media briefing on Sunday, KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi laid bare the deepening rifts in the South African Police Service (SAPS).

Mkhwanazi was referring to himself as the police officer, and to deputy national police commissioner Maj-Gen Shadrack Sibiya as the criminal.

Mkhwanazi alleged that Sibiya is part of a group of senior police officials, politicians, prosecutors and judges who are under the control of a criminal cartel operating out of Gauteng and extending across the country and the continent. 

The shock tactics employed by Mkhwanazi — including allegations that police minister Senzo Mchunu is in cahoots with this group — are not unprecedented in South African politics.

In 2016, then deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas alleged in a late-night media statement that the Guptas had offered him R600m in cash to take up the post of finance minister. That set in motion events that would eventually lead to Cyril Ramaphosa being elected ANC president. 

Battles within the criminal justice system have been prevalent since it was heavily politicised during the tenure of former presidents Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma. 

Often, it is difficult to determine from the outside which camp is acting in the best interests of the country. For instance, trade union federation Cosatu eventually backtracked on its support for the Zuma administration’s disbanding of the Scorpions, the crack independent anticorruption unit that fell under the National Prosecuting Authority. 

Another example was the claimed existence of a “rogue unit” at the South African Revenue Service, which led to the hollowing out of the tax agency’s investigative capacity and its near collapse. In the end the “rogue unit” was not rogue at all — it had been making headway in infiltrating the criminal underworld, which, of course, included politicians. 

To make sense of Mkhwanazi’s revelations on Sunday, it is necessary to understand who the key players are.

Mkhwanazi is a highly trained career policeman, formerly of the elite special taskforce. He was largely sidelined for promotion during Zuma’s tenure.

A former senior police general who wished to remain anonymous described Mkhwanazi as a man of “integrity and professionalism”. However, another former senior leader in the criminal justice system characterised his actions on Sunday as a “panic-driven strike” that came across as “threatening”.

Sibiya, now deputy national commissioner in charge of crime detection, is an interesting character. He is a former Gauteng head of the Hawks, known as the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, established to investigate organised crime, corruption and other serious offences. Sibiya was embroiled in the state capture-era scandal involving the illegal rendition of Zimbabweans wanted in that country for the murder of a police officer.

It was alleged that Sibiya was targeted for his investigation of Richard Mdluli, Zuma’s ally and former crime intelligence boss. Sibiya was axed and served as an internal investigator in the City of Joburg for a brief period, before returning to the police after winning a court bid ordering his reinstatement. He is said to be eyeing the post of Hawks boss after the recent retirement of Lt-Gen Godfrey Lebeya.

Mchunu is seen as a close ally of Ramaphosa and ran on his ticket for the post of secretary-general at the ANC’s 2017 Nasrec conference. He narrowly lost to Ace Magashule, with some insiders at the time accusing Magashule and his allies of manipulating the numbers to secure his victory.

Mchunu has built a reputation for competence. He was hailed for turning around the water & sanitation department after the disastrous term of former Zuma ally Nomvula Mokonyane. Mchunu has been pushed by Ramaphosa’s faction in the ANC to stand for president at the elective conference in 2027.

All eyes are now on the president, whose penchant for taking action too slowly — if at all — has become notoriously awkward

To back his claims, Mkhwanazi cited evidence found in the cellphone of alleged crime boss Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala, who secured a R360m police tender and was linked to corruption at the Tembisa Hospital in Gauteng. He said the evidence suggests that Sibiya and Mchunu, along with Brown Mogotsi, an ANC leader in North West, colluded to disband the police’s political killings task team.

According to Mkhwanazi, the dockets belonging to the unit were sent to Sibiya in March. Some were apparently arrest-ready, but none has been acted on. Senior members of the political killings task team have also been arrested on what Mkhwanazi insinuated were spurious charges. 

It is into this mess that Ramaphosa walked on his return on Tuesday from the Brics summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. All eyes are now on the president, whose penchant for taking action too slowly — if at all — has become notoriously awkward. 

Nothing less than a full, speedy and independent inquiry will suffice, as well as an investigation by parliament. Serious allegations of this nature would normally result in prompt suspensions — but in this case, where to even begin?

The political dimension cannot be ignored, and Mkhwanazi’s confident briefing has already won him considerable public support. The feeling is that he must have a strong case, or he would not have gone public. There could be costs for the ANC in acting against him — or not.

As a provincial commissioner and a lieutenant-general, Mkhwanazi reports to the national commissioner and technically outranks Sibiya. So, the chain of command is intact — at least on paper. But Mkhwanazi’s allegations, unless addressed urgently, are so serious as to threaten the reputation and legitimacy of the SAPS itself.

Ramaphosa has become adept at avoiding political minefields, hoping that if he waits long enough, they will go away. But this is one minefield he will have to enter — and be seen to enter.