Ipid probes KZN top cop Mkhwanazi for allegedly abusing his power

KwaZulu-Natal’s (KZN) top cop, Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, is in hot water for allegedly 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.

Police Minister Senzo Mchunu has lodged a complaint with police watchdog, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) over the claims.

Probe

Ipid gave Mkhwanazi a week to submit a sworn statement explaining his role in the matter after receiving Mchunu’s complaint.

IPID spokesperson, Lizzy Suping, told The Citizen that the investigation into Mkhwanazi for allegedly interfering in the arrest of a senior correctional services officer is underway.

“IPID has requested the Provincial Commissioner to submit his sworn statement by 19 March 2025.”

Rumours

In January, The Citizen reported, KZN police urged people to stop spreading rumours about 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,” Provincial police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said.

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

Mchunu’s spokesperson, Kamogelo Mogotsi, told The Citizen that she neither denied nor confirmed the minister had laid the Ipid complaint against Mkhwanazi.

Mogotsi also would not comment on allegations of a plot to discredit him.

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Allegations

A letter dated 12 March 2025, signed by the acting national head of investigations, Thuso Keefelakae, stated that Ipid has “certain information at its disposal indicating that you [Mkhwanazi] may have been involved in instructing the members not to arrest Ms Nelly Ndlovu”, City Press reported.

The allegations against Mkhwanazi were made in a police report and an occurrence book entry, with some members of the security cluster pushing for him to be charged with defeating the ends of justice.

Arrest

According to the Ipid letter dated 8 January 2024, the SA Police Service raided Ndlovu’s Empangeni home, where officers found five R5 rifle rounds of ammunition and 12 pills, suspected to be drugs, in a dustbin outside the house.

The items were seized as evidence, and Ndlovu was arrested and held at the Empangeni Police Station.

“Kindly note that Ipid received a complaint of interference from the minister of police … It is further alleged that, while the police were processing [Ndlovu], they received a call from [Mkhwanazi] who instructed the team not to open a case against the suspect … we therefore request you to submit your statement under oath clarifying the role you played in this matter,” Keefelakae wrote in the letter.

Discredit

Earlier this month, Mkhwanazi told the Parliament portfolio committee on police that a close associate of Mchunu had informed him of an internal effort to discredit him. He had later confirmed that that person was indeed close to the minister.

Ian Cameron, chairperson of the portfolio committee on police, said he would not be surprised if Mkhwanazi, whose term ends in a year, was targeted for tackling the rogue elements within the Saps

In 2012, Mkhwanazi, then acting national police commissioner, had a fallout with former minister of police Nathi Mthethwa for his abrasive management style, anti-corruption approach and his handling of former crime intelligence boss Richard Mdluli’s case.

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