'Crime intel needs an overhaul'

KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner is grilled in parliament on accusations against the minister

- Nkateko Joseph Mabasa

ANC members of parliament were careful to avoid direct references to Senzo Mchunu when they questioned KwaZulu-Natal commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi this week on corruption allegations he has made implicating the suspended police minister.

Instead, they focused their questions on corruption in the judiciary, the role of former ANC member Brown Mogotsi, threats to Mkhwanazi's family and alleged leaks from the National Prosecuting Authority.

Mkhwanazi gave the ad hoc committee investigating collusion between politicians and criminal syndicates a fuller picture of the depth of corruption in the justice system, laying the blame on the crime intelligence division of the South African Police Service as the source of political interference and leaks of confidential information to drug cartels.

He expanded on remarks he made at the Madlanga commission established by President Cyril Ramaphosa after the KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner first made the allegations at a July media briefing.

This week, Mkhwanazi told MPs crime intelligence needs an overhaul, especially at the executive level of individuals involved in the 2011 Richard Mdluli slush fund scandal.

He expressed concern about corrupt police officers who leak information to parliamentarians, who then weaponise it for political ends and highlighted the involvement of the ANC in using senior police officials to protect cartels and instigating the disbandment of a task team investigating political killings.