Testifying before the first day of the Madlanga Judicial Commission of Enquiry into Criminality, Political Interference and Corruption in the Criminal Justice System in Pretoria yesterday, Lt Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi made startling allegations about corruption and political interference in the justice system.

General Mkhwanazi told the commission that, “It is my aim, I want to demonstrate, that the criminal justice system has been subject to a continuous threat as well as sabotage which has been with us over an extended period to a point where we believe it is at real risk of a total collapse”.

In July, General Mkhwanazi held a press briefing, in which he alleged significant levels of corruption within the police.

At the time, President Ramaphosa responded as follows “last Sunday, the 6th of July 2025, Lt Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Commissioner of the South African Police Service, held a media briefing in which he made public serious allegations about the existence and operation of a sophisticated criminal syndicate that has allegedly infiltrated law enforcement and intelligence structures in South Africa…Lt Gen Mkhwanazi alleged that the Minister of Police allegedly interfered with sensitive police investigations and colluded with business people, including a murder accused, to disband the Political Killings Task Team based in KwaZulu-Natal…Lt Gen Mkhwanazi also said that a police investigation by the task team in Gauteng unmasked a syndicate controlled by a drug cartel, which involves politicians, law enforcement officials from the SAPS, metro police and correctional services, prosecutors and the judiciary, as well as business people”.

According to Mr Ramaphosa, “the allegations made…raise serious concerns around the Constitution, the rule of law and national security…These allegations, if proven true, threaten to undermine the confidence of South Africans in the ability of the South African Police Service to protect them and to effectively fight crime and corruption”.

South Africa’s police minister was subsequently placed on leave and the Madlanga Commission was established.

South Africa has come out of a long era of what was called state capture whereby state institutions were hijacked by corrupt actors with the objective of profiteering from state resources. The practice became so widespread that even organs of state responsible for the execution of law and order and justice were targeted by these actors.

A survey by South Africa’s Human Sciences Research Council has found that just 2 in 10 South Africans express trust and confidence in the country’s national police agency.

To date, despite repeated promises and assurances that prosecutions would be instituted against the people responsible for state capture very little such action has materialised despite overwhelming evidence of wrongdoing.

Ian Cameron, the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Police, told The Common Sense that, “The start of the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry with testimony from Lt-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi signals a critical test for South Africa. These hearings carry the opportunity to expose the rot once and for all, regardless of factional divides. Allegations of criminal capture within policing, politics and even the judiciary demand clarity and accountability. Both the judicial commission and the ad hoc committee have an opportunity to restore public trust, but if they fail, they risk deepening disillusionment and edging the country closer to anarchy. A commission is only as strong as its consequences, and this process will be judged by whether testimony translates into prosecutions, reforms and the restoration of trust in our justice system”.

Sources close to the government have told The Common Sense that the extent of the rot is so significant that there are fears that law enforcement action culminating in prosecutions may collapse the African National Congress (ANC) party as current and former party leaders turn against each other. For that reason South Africa’s government has often sought to make bold public gestures around combating corruption whilst in practice being slow to take practical action against implicated parties. The use of commissions of enquiry have been central to this strategy of performative justice.

Frans Cronje told The Common Sense that “the failure of the state to take effective action against corruption has become a key driver of the country’s rapidly changing political dynamics as ordinary people, fed up with excuses and delays, have turned to the ballot box to hold politicians accountable for their failure to clean up the state”.