Distrust among police deepens

Members of law enforcement don't know the good guys from the bad guys as two hearings into police capture

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The impact of two parallel hearings investigating accusations that state officials and politicians are colluding with a criminal cartel is causing increasing distrust among South Africa's police officers.

Based on information from various policing sources, Daily Maverick understands that revelations from the hearings, paired with related investigations into officers, are creating extreme distrust and sparking concerns about crimes that may be covered up.

"They're going to try to sweep this thing under the carpet," is how an officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, described an investigation into a colleague.

Aside from concerns about physical safety — Marius van der Merwe, a witness at the Madlanga Commission, was murdered at his Brakpan home in December last year — there are also fears about disinformation that can be used in smear campaigns to tarnish certain officers.

The two main narratives ... are that Mkhwanazi is an honest whistleblower acting in the interests of national security, or that he is a crook pretending to be a whistleblower while covering up crime

Although officers acknowledge that ventilating accusations is necessary, they say they are working amid a flurry of clashing suspicions. “Who do you trust in a situation like this?” one asked.

Two main contradictory narratives have already emerged from the parallel hearings — one by the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry and the other by an ad hoc committee in Parliament.