Madlanga Commission Hears Ramaphosa Was Informed About Criminal Networks Before Mkhwanazi’s Briefing

• The Madlanga Commission of Inquiry has heard how President Cyril Ramaphosa was briefed about criminal networks in the country
• The Acting Coordinator of the National Intelligence Coordinating Committee, Dr Ntandazo Sifolo, said it happened before July 2025
• South Africans weighed in on the news, with many noting why Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi held his infamous press briefing

Byron Pillay, a Briefly News journalist, has spent a decade reporting on South Africa's political landscape, crime, and social issues. He worked as a newspaper journalist for 10 years before transitioning to online journalism.

GAUTENG — The Acting Coordinator of the National Intelligence Coordinating Committee (NICOC), Dr Ntandazo Sifolo, told the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry that President Cyril Ramaphosa received a verbal briefing on criminal networks and the infiltration of the criminal justice system.

Dr Sifolo said that this happened before KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi's widely publicised media address on 6 July 2025. General Mkhwanazi made explosive allegations about the infiltration of South African law enforcement by organised crime.

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He claimed that a sophisticated syndicate, linked to drug cartels and sometimes referred to as the "Big 5," had embedded itself within the South African Police Service, metro police, Correctional Services, the National Prosecuting Authority, and the judiciary.

Mkhwanazi also alleged that then-Police Minister Senzo Mchunu had been used by these networks to dismantle the Political Killings Task Team around 31 December 2024.

The allegations led to Mchunu being placed on special leave and to the formation of the Madlanga Commission to probe the claims.

What did Dr Sifolo tell the Commission?

According to Dr Sifolo, NICOC briefed the President through an appointment-based process and not on an ad hoc basis.

"Apart from the national intelligence estimate reports, there were reports on matters about organised criminal networks and infiltration of the criminal justice system that served as a basis for a verbal briefing to the President prior to the July 6 2025 media briefing, particularly on June 30 2025," he noted.

How did South Africans react to the news?

South Africans reacted sharply to Sifolo's testimony on social media.

@NhlanhlaKumalo3 wrote:

"Oh yeah, I did say our President knew about what was happening in the country. He has intelligence under his office. Well done to General Mkhwanazi."

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@DeevhahD commented:

"As usual, nothing was urgently done."

@JimmyKgosi said:

"The President, including the ANC, they know everything that is happening in this country but always look away."

@Tweeteruserl exclaimed:

"This is a scary revelation. Now it makes sense why Mkhwanazi had to break rank and notify the nation, because no one was doing anything about it. Is he (Ramaphosa) perhaps implicated in some of these things?

@ChimCham7 added:

"Cyril must be subpoenaed as a matter of urgency.

Ramaphosa's name surfaces during Vusimuzi Matlala's Madlanga Commission testimony

Briefly News reported that Matlala continued his testimony before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry on 26 August 2026.

During the testimony of the controversial tenderpreneur, he shared a document related to Cyril Ramaphosa.

Matlala also told the Commission that he forwarded several documents without reviewing their contents.

Source: Briefly News