Evidence so far before both the Madlanga Commission and the Parliamentary inquiry into corruption and political interference in the police appears to corroborate everything General Nhlanhla Mkhwanzi has alleged about criminal networks infiltrating law enforcement.

It has all been quite astonishing but what was arguably most astonishing was the exchange between Glynnis Breytenbach of the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the suspended police general Shadrack Sibiya in Parliament last week, in which she asked whether he knew alleged corruption kingpin Vusimuzi "Cat" Matlala. His answer was blunt: "I found them here in the police, these people. Especially Matlala. I found them working with the police very close to the generals and other police officials," adding that "[the alleged corruption]…was not under the mattress. They saw it and it ran. With everybody knowing [meaning the senior management of the police]."

Ideally, there should be a complete clean-out of the stables via an independent team of prosecutors, intelligence officers, and investigators empowered to gather evidence, make arrests, and prosecute what will likely be a significant portion of the senior management of the police, the National Prosecuting Authority, the intelligence services, and senior African National Congress (ANC) leadership.

But President Cyril Ramaphosa is unlikely to support such an effort for the same reason he has failed to ensure mass arrests and prosecutions since coming to power more than seven years ago; a genuine clean-out of the stables would fatally fracture the unity of the ANC.

As long as he remains in office, the preservation of party unity, which by necessity means doing the barest minimum to actually prosecute corruption, will remain a dominant characteristic of his government.

There is, however, an alternative via devolving full policing authority from the national government to the level of municipalities. That would short-circuit the need for a purge of the politically connected national leadership, as on-the-ground officers would be answerable to local political leaders. This may not change much in ANC-dominated municipalities, but in DA-run areas the effect would be dramatic. Given what lies ahead in the next local government elections, several municipalities in Gauteng could fall under DA governance.

It is, of course, precisely because such devolution would be so effective in rooting out corruption that Ramaphosa’s government remains determined not to allow it. But governance and constitutional experts this newspaper have spoken to say the requisite policing powers could easily be devolved to local authorities at the stroke of the police minister’s pen and he should be placed under great pressure to use that pen.

Alternatively, opposition-dominated municipalities should simply go ahead and start investigating corruption linked to national level syndicates that takes place within their towns and cities daring the national government to haul them to court to shut-down those enquiries. With an election just more than a year away that is not a look that Ramaphosa and his national government could easily afford.