South African Ambassador to France, Nathi Mthethwa, was expected to be called by the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry which is currently hearing testimony about the interference of senior government officials and politicians into police work.
Mthethwa, a former Police and Sports, Arts and Culture Minister was found dead at the Hyatt Hotel in Porte Maillot in Paris on Tuesday after he went missing – he is believed to have died in tragic circumstances after falling from the 22nd floor of the hotel.
Although the commission had not yet confirmed whether he was on the list of those expected to give testimony, he was expected to be given a right of reply after he was mentioned in testimony by KwaZulu-Natal provincial Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.
Mkhwanazi told the commission that during his tenure as an acting national Police Commissioner in 2011, Mthethwa in his capacity as a Police Minister attempted to block the prosecution of the then police Crime Intelligence head Lieutenant-General Richard Mdluli.
Mdluli was accused of abuse of state resources and corruption involving the Crime Intelligence Unit’s slush funds. According to Mkhwanazi, Mthethwa also ordered him to stop taking disciplinary action against Mdluli – Mkhwanazi described this as interference in the work of the police.
“If you talk about political interference, that was the worst that I ever experienced. At that time, I came from the specialised operations; the only thing I know is to chase criminals. I am promoted to become the acting National Commissioner, and I am confronted with this in front of me, and I say, but this is not what I signed up for when I joined the police. This can’t be right,” Mkhwanazi explained.
He told the inquiry that he responded to Mthethwa and told him he was not going to do what he wanted him to do and demanded that Mthethwa write down the instruction.
Mkhwanazi said that Mthethwa then informed the late former Inspector-General of Intelligence, Advocate Faith Radebe to provide Mkhwanazi with written instructions to stop the investigation into Mdluli. This did not happen and Mdluli was suspended and charged.
Mdluli and his co-accused pleaded not guilty during the start of their corruption trial in the Pretoria Hight Court in May.
Mdluli, together with the former South African Police Service (SAPS ) Supply Chain Manager Heine Barnard and Chief Financial Officer, Solomon Lazarus, are facing charges of corruption, fraud and theft relating to the police’ secret slush fund from the time they were employed by the South African Police Service (SAPS) in the Crime Intelligence Unit, between 2008 and 2012.
The charges relate to allegations of gross abuse of the police intelligence slush fund, from which Mdluli and his family are said to have benefited. They include:
- Payment for private trips to China and Singapore.
- Private use of a witness protection house in Boksburg and conversion of this property for his personal use.
- The leasing of Mdluli’s private town house at Gordon Villas in Gordons Bay as a safe house to the state.
- Using the monthly rental to pay his bond.
Other allegations are that Mdluli’s family members, without adequate qualifications or experience, were appointed in crime intelligence and provided with motor vehicles and cellphones.
Mthethwa, who was born and raised in Klaarwater township west of Durban, was appointed as an Ambassador to France in December 2023 after he was dropped as a Minister by President Cyril Ramaphosa in a cabinet reshuffle. At the time, he was the Sports, Arts and Culture Minister.
