It’s been a wild ride since KwaZulu-Natal’s top cop, Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, dropped his bombshell press conference back in July, accusing senior police figures and political heavyweights of meddling in investigations into political killings. The fallout’s been massive, and now there’s a new development.
To recap: Mkhwanazi alleged that Police Minister Senzo Mchunu, his mate Brown Mogotsi, and tender tycoon Vusimusi “Cat” Matlala were tangled in a web shielding a criminal syndicate. He claimed Mchunu orchestrated the disbandment of the Political Killings Task Team and yanked 121 case dockets to shield politicians and politically-connected suspects.
The accusations were so seismic that President Cyril Ramaphosa suspended Mchunu, tapped Firoz Cachalia to step in as Acting Minister, and set up a commission, led by retired Constitutional Court Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, to dig into the mess.
The latest drama has seen National Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola and Cachalia get into a bit of a spat, then make up publicly after Ramaphosa, apparently, got pretty annoyed with both of them. (He’s also mad about the commission being delayed by IT procurement issues, poor Ramps.)
Why the spat? Masemola announced last week Thursday that he’s sending those 121 dockets back to the KwaZulu-Natal task team – a move that bypassed both Cachalia and the not‑yet‑started Madlanga Commission. Cachalia fired back on Friday, calling out the timing and process, insisting that any action should wait for the Commission.
By Monday, they finally met and made up, issuing a joint statement on Tuesday promising to play nicely. Those highly contested 121 documents will be submitted to the Commission… as soon as they can get their laptops working. 🤭
But! That’s not all.
Turns out those two dodgy businessmen, name-checked by Mkhwanazi back in July, were in touch on the day of his briefing – despite one of them being in prison. Court proceedings this week revealed Mogotsi tried ringing Matlala, facing charges for a 2023 attempted hit on his ex, Tebogo Thobejane, multiple times on a secret prison phone on the day.
Matlala was caught with the phone inside Kgosi Mampuru prison, still paused on a video of the explosive briefing. The big question? How Mogotsi knew Matlala’s number while he was locked up, adding meat to Mkhwanazi’s syndicate claims. For now, Matlala’s bail hearing, set for 8 September, keeps the spotlight on this murky duo while the commission chugs along. We’ll just be over here, with popcorn.
