Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi: The top cop who stood up to politicians

A highly respected police officer shook the South African government – and won the admiration of many ordinary people – with his explosive allegations that organized crime groups have penetrated the highest levels of President Cyril Ramavusa administration.

General Nanahla Makhwanzi thus in a dramatic style – wearing an army -like costume and surrounded by convincing police officers with automatic weapons, and called a press conference to accuse the police minister Senzo McCono of ties with criminal gangs.

He also said that his boss closed the elite unit that was investigated in political murders after it revealed a drug card with claws in the business sector, the Ministry of Prison, and the prosecution and the judiciary.

“We are in the fighting mode, I am dealing with criminals directly,” he announced in the address of a live broadcast on national television earlier this month.

South Africa has always been concerned about organized crime, which, the main expert in crime, Dr. Johann Burger, was at a “very dangerous level.”

One of the most famous cases is the cases that were among the tallest police chief in South Africa, Jackie Seleby, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2010 after being convicted of taking bribes from the head of Italian drugs, Glen Aghlioti, in exchange for his blind out of his criminal activity.

However, General Makhwazi’s intervention was unprecedented – the first time that a police officer publicly was publicly accused of a member of the Council of Ministers, not to mention the police officer, of the existence of links to criminal gangs.

The reaction was just. McCono rejected the allegations as “ground and baseless” and said that he “stood ready to respond to the accusations”, but the public gathered around General Makhwazi – Police Commissioner in Kawazolo Natal – although the boycott was also the political grass of Machono.

#Handsofnhlanhlamkhwanazi topped the list of trends on X, in a warning to the government not to touch the 52 -year -old.

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General Makhwazi got public admiration for about 15 years when, as South African police chief, he suspended Richard Mololi, head of intelligence in South Africa, a close ally of then President Jacob Zuma.

MDLULI was later sentenced to five years in prison for kidnapping, assault and intimidation, and the view of the Gen Mkhwanazi’s view was a corrupt apple inside the police service.

General Makhwazi faced tremendous pressure for the MDLULI shield, with his political presidents assumed that the officer, between the ages of 38 years, will be “open to manipulation [but] Dr. Burger said that they were blatantly wrong.

Not only did the MDLULI comment, but also demanded political intervention during the appearance in Parliament.

While this step earned him the cake points with the citizens, his public spray did not prefer him, and he was barely envied after a year of work and returned to mystery for several years.

He returned to a dramatic return in 2018 when he was appointed by the then Bheki Cele Police Commander in the provincial police chief, with one of his main tasks to investigate the murders in a province where the competition for political power – and the profitable state tenders – fierce.

This will be the investigation unit by Mr. Mchunu that broke out the explosive Gen Mkhwanazi two weeks ago, complaining that 121 case courses were “gathering dust” at the national police headquarters.

“I will die for this [police] badge. General Makhwanzi said, in line with his reputation that he is a brave officer and self -denial that cannot be arrested by the corrupt political and commercial elite.

A survey conducted by the Humanities Research Council (HSCRC) showed that the public’s confidence in the police stands at its lowest level at a 22 %.

The police force has long been suffering from cases of political intervention, corruption, and the inability to effectively address the levels of high crime.

The crisis has also reached the supreme structures of the force, with about 10 different police chiefs since 2000 – one of them was convicted of corruption and is currently facing other criminal charges.

“The job defect is at all levels,” said Gareth Newham of the Pretoria Security Institute, adding that “there are many dynamics within the police service that needs reform.”

But the duration of the Makhwazi generation was not without controversy. The issue of an investigation by the Police Control Authority was after a complaint of his interference in a criminal investigation into a senior prisons official.

However, he was cleared of the charge last month, as opposition economic freedom fighters (EFF) said that the complaint was “designed to obstruct a committed officer who did not fade in his battle against crime and corruption.”

The Gen Mkhwanazi team also criticized their heavy approach towards criminal suspects, who are sometimes shot in a confrontation with officers under his leadership.

Mr. Newham said that, while considering General Makhwazi a “policeman”, the public was ready to turn a blind eye to the violations of his alleged officers because they “wanted to have a police hero.”

With MCUNU’s mobilization, South Africa will have Acting Police Minister from next month – Feroz Cachalia, a law professor who comes from a famous family of anti -Fernoudi activists, and held the position of Minister of Community Safety in Gotting, South Africa, from 2004 to 2009.

In an interview with the local television station Newzroom Africa, Cachalia said that the decision of the Gen Mkhwanazi in the audience of his explosive allegations was “very unusual”, but if it turns out that it was true, we will be able to see a retroactive effect that he had something to justify in doing what he did. “

Therefore, General Makhwazi’s credibility at stake – either proves his allegations against Macuno or can fall on his sword.

But at the present time, he strengthened his reputation as a brave police officer who took his political superiors – twice.