KZN police slam ‘poorly plotted allegations’ against commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi

KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) police have urged people to stop spreading rumours about provincial Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.

Earlier this month, Mkhwanazi was accused of abusing his power and interfering in the arrest of a senior department of correctional services official, who is accused of running a drug cartel at the Westville Prison.

A circulating WhatsApp message has also accused Mkhwanazi of corruption.

Allegations against Mkhwanazi

Provincial police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said they have noted with “grave concern the malicious and character assassinating allegations” directed towards Mkhwanazi.

“Police refutes the allegations and accusations contained in that vile communique as baseless, unfounded and as a cheap attempt to create instability within the police machinery, not only in the province but nationally.

“Police in KwaZulu-Natal have been attaining notable successes in the recent past and are continuing to make criminals uncomfortable. Such relentless pursuit of organised criminal groups and the dismantling of many of them have made some criminal handlers uncomfortable and some of them are now trying to have a comeback through the court of public opinion,” Netshiunda said.

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Fighting crime

Netshiunda said the “poorly plotted allegations” aim to create enmity between Mkhwanazi and his seniors and colleagues in the province.

“Police in the province will keep on tightening the grip on criminals and in a true meaning of ‘kicking the dog until the owner comes out’. Those implicated or affected by the good work that the police are doing will eventually reveal their identities and will stop at nothing to derail the focus of police in KwaZulu-Natal, and their first point of attack is clearly character assassination of the provincial commissioner.”

“Police in KwaZulu-Natal are challenging anyone who has any incriminating evidence against the provincial commissioner to open a case so that the provincial commissioner, just like any other citizen, may have his day in court, not for his name to be dragged into social kangaroo courts of public opinion,” Netshiunda said.

Netshiunda added that these kinds of ” pushbacks were not unexpected” due to the public’s appreciation of the work of the police in KwaZulu-Natal and the subsequent social media praise of Mkhwanazi.

“The aim of whoever is behind the mischievous allegations is to plant a seed of distrust between various levels of police management in the province and weaken the teams on the ground,” Netshiunda said.

Mkhwanazi has urged all police in KwaZulu-Natal to remember their mandate and strive to bring justice to the many victims of crime.

“I remain focused on my job and encourage all police officers to do the same. Together, we have been entrusted with keeping the residents of KwaZulu-Natal safe and protecting their property. We were trained to ignore empty threats and baseless accusations, and no amount of untruths perpetrated against us will force us to take the foot off the pedal,” said Mkhwanazi.

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