Key figures at the centre of the explosive SAPS saga

ITS BEEN a busy week in the world of crime and politics since Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi dropped that bombshell last Sunday during a press conference at the SAPS KZN Headquarters in Durban. Here are 10 men and women that are key in this saga.

- AMAHLE LUKE AND SIHLE MLAMBO

Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, the provincial commissioner of KZN: Mkhwanazi made allegations saying that his team had uncovered a syndicate operating within the police’s higher structures, placing significant scrutiny on his political boss, Police Minister Senzo Mchunu and a senior police officer, Lieutenant General Shadrack Sibiya, whom he described as a criminal. Mkhwanazi has declared he is “combat ready” to take on the criminal elements outside and within the SAPS, and was willing to lay down his life to destroy the crime syndicates.

Police Minister Senzo Mchunu: It was Police Minister Senzo Mchunu who took a decision to disband the political killings task team unit in December 2024, directly pitting him against Mkhwanazi. Mkhwanazi has accused him of having ties to the criminal underworld, with the likes of attempted murder-accused tenderpreneur businessman Vusumuzi Cat Matlala allegedly bankrolling Mchunu’s political ambitions and those of associates close to him. Mchunu has denied any links to organised crime accused Vusimusi “Cat” Matlala.