Lieutenant-General Mkhwanazi’s claims expose the rot in our leadership

IF KWAZULU-NATAL police commissioner, Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi’s claims and the Zondo Commission of Inquiry’s report are anything to go by, South Africa should be declared a crime scene.

- ZAKHELE COLLISION NDLOVU

Our corrupt leaders and the adult citizens who vote for them have each played a role in turning our beloved country into a crime scene.

President Cyril Ramaphosa established the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry after Mkhwanazi made shocking claims and accused the Minister of Police, Senzo Mchunu, and the now-suspended deputy national commissioner of police, Shadrack Sibiya, of interfering in high-profile investigations and protecting criminal networks.

However, South Africans should not be shocked after we have had leaders like Jacob Zuma, who shamelessly said “if I go down, then I won’t go down alone”.

Suffice it to say that Zuma has successfully used delaying tactics to avoid going on trial over corruption and bribery charges related to the arms deal.

Mkhwanazi’s claims have the potential to expose the extent of the rot in democratic South Africa. Furthermore, his claims are likely to unmask the weaknesses and the ineffectiveness of oversight institutions such as Parliament and the office of the public protector in holding the executive branch accountable.

What this means is that South Africa’s separation of powers, or system of checks and balances are not working in preventing the abuse of power and containing rampant corruption in the public sector.

While it is still early days to verify the veracity of Mkhwanazi’s claims, what cannot be denied is that post-apartheid politics are based on normalising wrongdoing, unaccountability and a culture that deliberately overlooks the widespread rot in the public sector.

Mkhwanazi’s claims have laid bare why South Africa’s crime rate is one of the highest in the world, and its crime rate has remained stubbornly high in recent decades.

He cites obvious weaknesses in the criminal justice system, such as police corruption, sheer incompetence, lack of resources and political interference, as some of the reasons.