Long journey ahead to eliminate criminal justice system rot

THE Madlanga Commission’s public hearings, which commenced on Wednesday, have begun their work with the kind of attention usually reserved for political theatre.

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South Africans were glued to live streams, news broadcasts and social media as the proceedings opened, exposing the alleged rot in the country’s law-enforcement agencies, the judiciary, Parliament and the executive. President Cyril Ramaphosa established the commission after mounting public pressure for an inquiry into KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi’s explosive media briefing on July 6.

The president's announcement was swift, entrusting the process to Acting Deputy Chief Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, with a mandate that includes determining whether criminal syndicates — including, but not limited to, drug cartels — have infiltrated or exerted undue influence over key state institutions. By design, the commission is meant to be both a fact-finding exercise and a confidence-restoring intervention.

In its first phase, which involved the formal placing of allegations before the commission, Mkhwanazi reiterated his earlier statements about political interference in policing and the possible influence of criminal syndicates on a senior cabinet minister.

He spoke of the disbandment of the Political Killings Task Team and suggested that interests outside policing had driven the decision. He further drew attention to leaks of sensitive information, abuse of power by parliamentarians and to dockets that were mishandled, implying that these failures were not simply administrative lapses but the consequences of deliberate political direction. These are claims of the highest gravity. Yet gravity alone is never sufficient. Without substantiation, they remain allegations that are striking but still unproven.

In particular, he has yet to present substantive corroborating arguments to the public to support the claim that Police Minister Senzo Mchunu was placed under pressure by syndicates.