Criminal cartel tied to politicians and high-ranking police officers

Explosive testimony at the judicial inquiry in Pretoria this week appeared to confirm allegations of political interference, corruption and collusion at the highest levels of the criminal justice system. By Caryn Dolley

- Caryn Dolley

A drug trafficking cartel known as the Big Five, which has international links, has penetrated South Africa's political sphere and is involved in tender fraud, extortion, kidnappings and contract killings.

When the cartel's crime plans do not pan out, its members resort to cash-in-transit heists and ATM bombings to make quick money.

This is what Lieutenant General Dumisani Khumalo, who until June headed the country's Crime Intelligence unit, testified to at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry on Monday, 29 September.

"The Big Five has already penetrated the political sphere and there are documented cases of high-profile connections in the political arena, [with] senior politicians alleged to be complicit and/or wilfully blind to the syndicate operations," he said.

Khumalo also said the cartel had "captured some of the key elements within the criminal justice system" to ensure it could sustain its illegal operations. It aimed to secure "allies among the key judicial and law enforcement officials as well as political figures at various levels, but most importantly at very high levels" to manipulate investigations, suppress evidence and obstruct legal proceedings that threatened its operations.

Khumalo named several individuals as allegedly being linked to the cartel, creating the impression that the Big Five has connections extending from the police ministry and high-level South African Police Service (SAPS) offices to businesses, including private security companies.

This was the third week of testimony at the Madlanga Commission. President Cyril Ramaphosa ordered its creation to investigate allegations that KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi made during a press conference in July.