"Outsourcing Breeds Criminality": General Mkhwanazi Takes Aim at Government's Tender System
- KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi addressed Parliament's Police Portfolio Committee in Cape Town on 19 August 2026
- Mkhwanazi argued that politically connected tender awards generate illicit wealth that sustains powerful criminal syndicates across South Africa
- The commissioner drew on historical findings, including the Moerane Commission, to connect municipal corruption and political assassinations to tender battles
PAY ATTENTION: Mark Briefly News as a preferred source, and our content will appear higher in your Google feed!
Source: Getty Images
CAPE TOWN — KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi has told Parliament that South Africa's government tender system and excessive reliance on outsourcing are key drivers of corruption, economic stagnation and organised crime in the country.
Mkhwanazi appeared before Parliament's Police Portfolio Committee in Cape Town on 19 August 2026, where he laid out what he described as a systemic failure that extends far beyond the reach of law enforcement.
Tenders feeding criminal syndicates
The commissioner argued that the repeated awarding of public contracts to politically connected individuals creates pools of illicit wealth that fund criminal networks and cartels. He cited historical findings from the Moerane Commission to reinforce the point that battles over lucrative local government tenders have long been linked to municipal corruption and political assassinations.
PAY ATTENTION: You can now search for all your favourite news and topics on Briefly News.
Mkhwanazi questioned why the state continues to outsource public infrastructure projects when it has access to qualified graduates and skilled workers who could be employed directly. He contended that sidelining internal state capacity results in wasteful expenditure and leaves communities without jobs.
"We ask ourselves, with this high level of unemployment, why is government issuing tenders for people to build a school — there are kids that have done engineering that can supervise the building of a school. There are people that can be employed by government as artisans to build the school," he said.
He went further, arguing that outsourcing itself is a root cause of criminal behaviour.
"This outsourcing is what breeds criminality," he stated,
He also added that unemployment compounds the problem.
"An idle mind is the devil's playground."
A holistic approach is needed
Mkhwanazi cautioned against treating crime and gang violence as problems that policing alone can resolve. He called for a broader, whole-of-society response that addresses the structural conditions enabling criminality to take hold.
"We need to all put away our flags and badges of political parties to come together as citizens and look at what can fix our problems," he said.
Mkhwanazi speaks on foot soldiers and prosecutions
In related news, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi laid out in detail how organised crime networks exploit legal structures to protect their foot soldiers from prosecution. He told committee members that 17-year-old unemployed individuals arrested with illicit drugs are frequently represented by senior advocates charging up to R20,000 per hour, fees that no unemployed teenager could plausibly afford. He said syndicate leaders cover these costs by depositing funds directly into attorney trust accounts.
KZN Police chief calls public to expose corruption
Briefly News reported that KwaZulu-Natal police appealed to residents in Durban’s CBD to help expose criminal activity allegedly involving corrupt officers. This follows growing concerns about collusion between some police members and criminal elements. He indicated that several officers attached to the Point police station have already faced departmental action, while others have been arrested and charged for alleged involvement in criminal activities in the area.
PAY ATTENTION: Stay informed and follow us on Google News!
Source: Briefly News
