General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi Implicates General Shadrack Sibiya and Senzo McHunu in Criminal Syndicate

• The KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner, General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, fiercely slammed politicians and top South African Police Service cops
• In a media briefing, Mkhwanazi implicated politicians, police officers, judges, and prosecutors in an intricate criminal syndicate spanning the entire country
• He lambasted the deputy national police commissioner, Lieutenant-General Shadrack Sibiya, for shutting down KZN's special task force on 26 March 2025, this year

Tebogo Mokwena, a Briefly News current affairs journalist based in Johannesburg, South Africa, covered a range of criminal activities, including cash-in-transit heists, kidnappings, taxi violence, police investigations, police shootouts, and court cases at Daily Sun for over three years.

DURBAN, KWAZULU-NATAL — The KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, on 6 July 2025 implicated politicians, top police brass, and ministers in a criminal syndicate which he alleges is responsible for the disbandment of KZN's task-force team.

Mkhwanazi blows the lid off criminal syndicate

Mkhwanazi addressed the media in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, and made damnming allegations against the National Deputy Police Commissioner, General Shadrack Sibiya, and the Minister of Police, Senzo Mchunu.

Mchunu reportedly issued a letter on 31 December 2024 to disband the task team and to suspend the filling of vacancies in crime intelligence. Mkhwanazi said that Sibiya, acting on the instructions from Mchunu, seized control of the KZN's Political Killings Task Team 121 cases on 26 March 2025.

Why was the task team disbanded?

Mkhwanazi said that the task team, which was established in 2018, conducted investigations into a criminal syndicate headquartered in Gauteng but operating nationwide and in neighbouring states. The syndicate, Mkhwanazi said, had in its operations top-brass members of the police, politicians serving in Parliament, judges, prosecutors, and businessmen in Gauteng.

Mchunu implicated

Mkhwanazi said that 54 dockets were linked to the killings of traditional leaders. He accused Mchunu of being behind the disbandment of the task force for his own gain. Mkhwanazi further stated that he received communication from Brown Mokgosi in September 2024.

He said Mokgosi informed him that there was a plot to have him arrested. Mkhwanazi referred to the recent investigation launched against him, where he was accused of defeating the ends of justice by allegedly interfering in the arrest of a correctional services officer.

Mchunu, Matlala, and Mokgosi

Mkhwanazi further said that tenderpreneur Vusumuzi "Cat" Matlala, who is currently awaiting trial on charges of the attempted murder of actress Tebogo Thobejane and money laundering, is funding the political ambitions of Mchunu and the mysterious Mokgosi. Mkhwanazi added that Mokgosi shared intel that only police officers have access to.

Mkhwanazi remarked that Mokgosi informed Matlala in January that the task team had been dissolved and that all the dockets the task team was investigating would be sent to Sibiya.

This happened a day before Mkhwanazi was ordered to send the dockets to Sibiya. Also said that an unnamed top politician was involved in the murder of former African National Congress Youth League secretary general Sindiso Magaqa. The Economic Freedom Fighters called for a probe after the convicted killer of Magaqa implicated politicians and municipal officials in KZN.

Mkhwanazi suspects his days are over

Mkhwanazi urged South Africans to continue fighting the criminal syndicate. He added that the worst that could happen to him is to lose his job, be arrested, or be killed. He said that many members of the police and former police officers are committed to the fight against the criminal syndicate even in his absence.

"This undermines the criminal justice system in the country... I will die for this badge," he said.

Mkhwanazi worried about cops leaving the force

In a related article, Briefly News reported that Mkhwanazi expressed concern about the declining police numbers in the province. He said officers are leaving the force to join private security companies.

He said that the force lost almost 900 police officers in the past financial year. He said many resigned, and some died on duty.

Source: Briefly News