Bheki Cele Tells Parliament’s Ad Hoc Committee That Country’s Biggest Crimes Are Planned in Prison

• Former Police Minister Bheki Cele is testifying before Parliament's Ad Hoc Committee on 23 October 2025
• The former National Police Commissioner is the fifth witness to testify at the hearings in Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi's allegations
• Cele noted that while the hearings focused on the police, other sectors also experience corruption that needs to be investigated

Briefly News journalist Byron Pillay has dedicated a decade to reporting on the South African political landscape, crime, and social issues. He spent 10 years working for the Northern Natal Courier before transitioning to online journalism.

WESTERN CAPE – The biggest crimes in South Africa are planned in prisons. That’s according to Former Police Minister Bheki Cele, who was testifying before Parliament’s Ad Hoc Committee on 23 October 2025.

Cele is the fifth witness testifying before Parliament as it holds hearings into allegations of criminality, political interference and corruption within the criminal justice system.

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The committee was established following allegations made by Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi on 6 July 2025.

Cele discusses corruption in correctional facilities

During his first day of testimony, Cele touched on the hearings and how they only focused on corruption in the police force. He noted that there were other issues of corruption with the judges and the correctional services.

“That chain for me, I find it very limited here to the police. When there is this problem from the very beginning, which is the police, to the very end, which is correctional services,” he said.

The former National Commissioner of the South African Police Service said he hoped more attention would be given to this as well.

Source: Briefly News