Did Mkhwanazi interfere or intervene in a drug-related arrest?

Parliament’s ad hoc committee on Wednesday debated whether KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi interfered or intervened in the arrest of a correctional services officer on drug-related charges.

Mkhwanazi was alerted to the case by Brown Mogotsi via WhatsApp on 30 September 2024.

At the time, Mogotsi was reportedly warning Mkhwanazi about an allegation that had been laid against him of defeating the ends of justice.

“He told me there was an attempt to discredit me,” Mkhwanazi said in his testimony at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry.

In the message, Mogotsi allegedly attached a copy of a police occurrence book.

“So he sent me a copy of this. And the contents of the occurrence book and the factual report were exactly the same,” said Mkhwanazi.

Mkhwanazi and Nkabinde

The following day, Mkhwanazi called suspended police minister Senzo Mchunu’s chief of staff, Cedrick Nkabinde, to ask if he knew Mogotsi.

Nkabinde told the committee on Wednesday he confirmed to Mkhwanazi that he and the minister knew Mogotsi.

However, he never told him that Mogotsi was Mchunu’s close associate.

Mkhwanazi and Nkabinde further discussed the case against the police commissioner, which sparked debate over whether Mkhwanazi had interfered.

“General Mkhwanazi engaged me and explained, saying he was not intending to interfere, he was intervening to avoid unnecessary civil claims, that they would rather take the drugs for testing and also the way they were recovered, there was a possibility that it could have been planted by other people,” said Nkabinde.

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MK party MP David Skosana and ActionSA MP Doreleen James highlighted the importance of the context in which Mkhwanazi called the officers who were effecting the arrest.

“These drugs were planted. They were found in the residence of a correctional services member, not in the member’s possession, but on the premises. The question is, why does Mogotsi have a record of the SAP13 book?” asked James.

“It is said that Mkhwanazi interfered; he is a policeman, he’s the provincial commissioner for KZN, he’s meant to interfere in such cases. We must be careful when we say he interfered; we must give the merit of what actually happened there.”

Defeating the ends of justice?

The case against Mkhwanazi arose from his having advised his colleague on procedures to be followed when making an arrest.

The acting head of the Qalakabusha correctional centre in Empangeni was accused of possession of drugs and ammunition.

During his testimony at the Madlanga commission, Mkhwanazi said there were too many unanswered questions relating to the arrest.

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“I must say that what made me intervene was that incident, although the drugs and the ammunition that were found were not found in her possession, but were found outside the house where she was staying, which is a state house, which is within the state facility,” said Mkhwanazi.

“I advised the police officer, senior officer in charge of the operation, on how to handle that incident that occurred while making sure that the ends of justice are realised, the proper investigation is done and we
don’t attract an illegal litigation against the organisation by arresting the wrong person. So that was my guidance to him.”

“I asked questions and said, but you can’t detain a person if you have not confirmed that this belongs to this person. It’s like stopping a car driving and there are two or three occupants in a vehicle, you see a firearm inside and you arrest the driver.

“First, you have to investigate, do touch DNA and confirm who probably might have touched this firearm. Then you can confirm who it belongs to before you arrest the person. It does not automatically mean that what you find in the area will belong to a person who resides in that facility.”