Madlanga Commission marks one year of testimony on police corruption

It has been almost a year since the Madlanga Commission was established by President Cyril Ramaphosa , following Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi’s media briefing on 6 July 2025.

During the briefing, Mkhwanazi made allegations of criminal infiltration within law enforcement agencies and political interference in these institutions.

Since its establishment, the Commission has heard evidence from more than 100 witnesses and has made a number of recommendations and referrals for further investigation.

Madlanga Commission – which is tasked with investigating allegations of criminality, political interference and corruption in the criminal justice system – is set to mark the one-year anniversary since its first public hearing on the 17th of September 2025 #MorningLive #SABCNews — SABCNews_MorningLive (@MorningLiveSABC) September 13, 2026 While the Madlanga Commission has heard from more than 100 witnesses since it was established last year, at the heart of its investigation is the disbanding of the Political Killings Task Team , or PKTT.

The PKTT was disbanded by then Police Minister Senzo Mchunu, who has since been placed on leave of absence following Mkhwanazi’s press briefing.

One of the reasons he gave for disbanding the PKTT was cost constraints, a decision Mkhwanazi has described as unlawful and irregular.

Another reason Mchunu gave for disbanding the PKTT was a 2019 work study that opposed the use of standalone task teams.

However, that work study, which was signed off by former Police Commissioner Khehla Sitole, did not recommend the disbanding of the PKTT.

Commissioner Sandile Khumalo challenged Mchunu’s interpretation, saying he had misrepresented the study. ” The PKTT is set up by the IMC, the interministerial committee.

And therefore, it can only be disbanded by the Minister and that Committee.

And now, if you have studies that only go to the national commissioner and his subordinates, and they adopt the recommendations in those studies.

The suggestion, and that is your suggestion, of those recommendations can override the IMC decision that there must exist a PKTT.

That does not make sense to me.” Evidence before the Commission has also raised allegations that criminal syndicates were assisted by members of the South African Police Service (SAPS) in attempting to infiltrate law enforcement agencies.

One of the questions the Commission has been grappling with is whether Mchunu’s decision to disband the PKTT may have affected sensitive investigations into alleged criminal syndicates, including those allegedly linked to attempted-murder accused, Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala.