In thinking about the national security crisis that South Africa faces right now, it would be easy to reach for old tools to make sense of, and perhaps fix, this new challenge. That would be a mistake. None of the old ways will work.
The South African Police Service is at its weakest institutionally and its standing in society is destroyed. This is an organisation that is categorically a failure. Only 10% of reported murders result in a conviction. In 2022/2023, there were 27,494 murders and 2,982 convictions, according to the government’s own figures.
This is a broken, corrupt, underresourced and unmotivated organisation whose top generals are clueless and whose political leaders are even worse. Things are so bad at the police service that it should be destroyed and rebuilt from the ground up with a new ethos, a huge infusion of new personnel and skills, and certainly a new leadership corps.
Mere tinkering will not fix it. Ask anyone who has visited a township police station lately whether they left feeling optimistic and you will weep with sadness — no cops, no cars to visit incident locations, no pens to take down statements and no energy; some stations shut at 5pm as if the place is a home affairs office.
On Sunday the extremely popular KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner, Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, accused police minister Senzo Mchunu of interfering in key investigations, disbanding the police’s political killings task team in December 2024 and confiscating 121 active case dockets to protect criminal networks from scrutiny. These are serious allegations and the institution is in deep crisis.
In this dirty saga in a dirty organisation, there are few honest characters
So what are the things to look out for over the next few weeks?
So-called angels may turn out to be demons: When rumours of police commissioner Jackie Selebi’s possible corruption emerged in the mid-2000s, many refused to believe such a thing could be possible.
Selebi was a bigwig at Interpol, was revered in ANC ranks, and was regarded as clean. Yet, in 2010 he was convicted of receiving R1.2m from convicted drug dealer Glenn Agliotti to turn a blind eye to his business.
Ask anyone in the police about Mkhwanazi and they will praise him to the skies. Former police spokesperson Selby Bokaba tweeted this week: “What I can tell you is that Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi is a GOOD Cop. I, and many other good cops, can vouch for him.”
Many will also tell you that Mchunu is incorruptible. Closely aligned to President Cyril Ramaphosa since he turned against Jacob Zuma in the early 2010s, Mchunu is regarded as a steady and reliable hand.
There is no doubt that Mkhwanazi’s allegations bear some truth. However, be prepared to see heroes exposed as villains, and villains become heroes. In this dirty saga in a dirty organisation, there are few honest characters.
Skills have fled the SAPS: The ANC destroyed the country’s most effective crime-fighting unit, the Scorpions, in 2008. It was disbanded because it went after Zuma, the ANC president at the time, and disrupted exactly the kind of corruption raised by Mkhwanazi this week. The police now lack the depth of experience and skills needed to solve the challenges the country faces.
Many fires everywhere: Over the past two months seven officers of the embattled crime intelligence division have been arrested in relation to the hiring of an unqualified young woman to a senior post. Several of those arrested were in charge of the crime intelligence secret services account — basically, the police slush fund — and have been accused of buying hotels, buildings, cars and other goods for “covert operations”. This is just another of the many crises afflicting the service.
Who can lead an investigation of this — or a cleanup of the entire police service? Political parties have almost universally called for decisive action. Who will do it, though? Ramaphosa is close to Mchunu and is known to move with the speed of a snail when faced with a crisis. He is compromised by Phala Phala. A commission of inquiry? Look what happened with the Zondo recommendations — sweet nothing.
Our problems have not just become complicated, but have reached a point where they need a whole new way of thinking, seeing and doing. And our political structures are not set up for that, which means we are stuck in this rut for a long while yet.
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