Threats against KZN Police Commissioner . On Wednesday, July 9, the national police commissioner, General Fannie Masemola, confirmed that Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, the provincial police commissioner for KwaZulu-Natal, has been threatened with his life. Masemola said the South African Police Service (SAPS) has increased Mkhwanazi’s security in response.

Masemola made it abundantly clear to journalists that he would not pursue Mkhwanazi when he addressed them virtually from Vanderbijlpark, Gauteng. “We have beefed up his security, but there will be no persecution of any SAPS member, not only him,” Masemola said. In Waiting for the President to Act When asked if he would take action against Mkhwanazi following his public accusations, Masemola said he would wait for President Cyril Ramaphosa’s intervention. The president has called the ongoing dispute a serious national security concern.

Mkhwanazi Accuses Police Minister of Interference Mkhwanazi has accused Police Minister Senzo Mchunu and deputy national police commissioner Lieutenant General Shadrack Sibiya of disbanding the political killings task team without proper authority. According to IOL, he claimed that Sibiya controlled sensitive case dockets in Pretoria. According to Mkhwanazi, some of the task team’s investigations had exposed a crime syndicate involving politicians. Underworld figures, judges, prosecutors and senior police officials. He said dismantling the task team sparked tensions within the South African Police Service (SAPS). It also triggered arrests by the National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) Investigating Directorate Against Corruption.

Mkhwanazi to Open Criminal Case Against Mchunu Mkhwanazi has promised to file a criminal complaint against Mchunu, claiming that the minister has interfered with policing.