Ramaphosa Was Warned About Criminal Infiltration Days Before Mkhwanazi Spoke Out

In July 2025, KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi made explosive public claims. National intelligence authorities informed President Cyril Ramaphosa six days earlier on criminal networks and the suspected infiltration of state institutions.

According to Dr. Ntandazo Sifolo, who is acting as the coordinator of the national intelligence coordination committee, the committee met with Ramaphosa on June 30, 2025, according to testimony given on Thursday by the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry. He claimed that the briefing covered organised crime groups and the dangers of criminals infiltrating the legal system.

On July 6, 2025, Mkhwanazi had his press conference, during which he accused criminal syndicates of infiltrating the criminal justice system. Along with disbanding the Political Killings Task Force improperly, he accused then-police minister Senzo Mchunu of meddling in sensitive investigations. Mchunu has claimed innocence. The claims have not been proven as fact by the commission and are still being investigated.

According to Sifolo’s testimony before the investigation, the president had received both written and verbal information from the intelligence coordination committee’s national intelligence assessments. Having recused herself from any situation involving her Cabinet colleagues or their respective ministries, Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni gave her approval to the verbal briefings, he claimed.

Intelligence agencies’ methods for detecting and reporting organised crime threats were the subject of the hearing. Politically motivated violence and intimidation pose concerns to public safety and democratic processes, according to Sifolo, who claimed the committee has witnessed increased ties between political officials and criminal networks.

During the 2021 municipal elections, he informed the committee, worries about violence with a political connection were increasingly apparent. The influence of criminal extortion on transportation and commercial activities were also emphasised in intelligence assessments conducted before to the 2024 national election, as were suspected ties between political leaders and underworld individuals.

Prioritising major organised and commercial crime and enhancing investigative capacity were two of the committee’s recommendations. It also demanded that investigations stemming from state-capture discoveries be expedited and that specific probes into municipal, state-owned company, and public institution corruption and embezzlement be launched.

Following the public disclosure of Mkhwanazi’s accusations in July 2025, Ramaphosa formed the Madlanga Commission. Part of its job description is to look into allegations of criminal gangs infiltrating intelligence, police, and other criminal justice agencies, and to see whether high-ranking authorities ignored legitimate warnings.

New information on communications between intelligence officials prior to the public controversy’s eruption is provided by Sifolo’s proof. On its own, it doesn’t prove that any one officer messed up or that Mkhwanazi’s subsequent claims were in the intelligence briefing.

The evidence that the panel is now hearing is meant to shed light on the specific warnings that were received, how they were dealt with, and whether or not the relevant governmental institutions acted correctly.

https://x.com/ZANewsFlash/status/2120858890158182818

Styleupgrade feedback-opera-news-app@opera.com