Nkabinde's rise from police officer to a power player

CEDRICK Nkabinde was in the spotlight this week when KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi spoke at a parliamentary inquiry session about how he rose through the ranks from a police officer dealing with dockets to suspended police minister Senzo Mchunu's chief of staff.

- KAREN SINGH

Mkhwanazi said he had personally met Mchunu in a meeting over coffee arranged by Nkabinde at his house before he was appointed as the minister of police in 2024.

“He personally wanted to introduce me to the Minister of Water (and Sanitation) Affairs, so 1 drove with him to his house,” Mkhwanazi said, noting that Nkabinde was unemployed at the time.

Nkabinde’s trajectory from law enforcement to ministerial advisor illustrates a significant pattern in South Africa’s governance ecosystem, where the lines between policing, investigation, and political appointments often blur.

His case has drawn particular attention amid ongoing concerns about political interference in law enforcement agencies and questions about the integrity of appointments to key positions.

Mkhwanazi said Nkabinde told him he came to know Mchunu while investigating a case that occurred when he was still the premier.

“There was a death of someone in KZN, and the minister at the time was accused of having interfered with the destruction of crucial evidence,” he stated.

“The relationship between him and the minister was formed out of an investigation that Nkabinde was doing,” he said, adding that he is unsure why Mchunu was not arrested at the time.

Mkhwanazi said it was apparent on the day of the meeting at Mchunu’s house that the minister was close to Nkabinde.