This week’s explosive claim: police force captured from within
Why does it matter when a police commissioner accuses the state of protecting criminals?
A lot.
The thing about corruption is that it doesn’t just steal money — it steals justice.
Corruption weakens every institution meant to protect us, and as a result, it allows syndicates to thrive while victims are buried and forgotten.
There are three central accusations made by the KwaZulu Natal top cop:
1. An elite police unit meant to investigate political killings was shut down because of nefarious actions of the police commissioner
2. The police minister Senzo Mchunu has links to a nefarious criminal through a comrade Brown Mogotsi and has benefitted through these links financially.
3. There is collaboration between political interests and organised crime.
Produced by: Hasina Gori
KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi says he has the evidence to back up these claims:
A WhatsApp message from Brown Mogotsi, a political fixer, to Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala, a man accused of attempted murder.
“I have arranged a meeting for Sibiya and the Minister. They must have a solution. The task team that came to your house and harassed you has been dissolved. They got the letter on Monday.”
That “task team” was the elite Political Killings Task Team, which had investigated over 600 politically-linked cases and helped secure more than 100 convictions.
By January 2025, it was gone.
Who is Vusimuzi Matlala?
Matlala may be unknown to many but not to journalists.
He first was a person of interest when he was arrested in Sandton in 2018 with one of Radovan Krejcir’s hitmen.
Then he was linked to three companies flagged by Babita Deokaran before her assassination in relation to corruption at the Tembisa Hospital.
Matlala later landed a R360 million police-linked health tender in 2024 which has since been cancelled.
Produced by: Hasina Gori
He was arrested again in May 2025 for allegedly orchestrating the attempted murder of his former partner. This is what he is currently facing charges for a
Now his cellphone and his WhatsApp messages sit at the center of what the KZN Police Commissioner says is a web of coverups and political interference.
In December 2024, Police Minister Senzo Mchunu allegedly sent a directive to disband the task team, saying it no longer served its purpose.
Produced by: Hasina Gori
But this week, the National Police Commissioner claimed he never signed off on the closure.
Meanwhile, hundreds of dockets were pulled from the team’s hands, never to be actioned again.
When we talk about state capture, we often picture old footage of Zuma-era looting.
But what’s unfolding now is state capture in real-time, under the banner of law enforcement.
The non response to the claims has been shocking.
Mchunu claimed not to have watched the media briefing.
The President was out of the country in Brazil.
And when confronted, senior police leadership deflected.
National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza has called on key parliamentary committees to urgently probe Mkhwanazi’s allegations .
Now, with the public demanding answers, President Cyril Ramaphosa is set to address the nation on Sunday at 19:00, on what the presidency calls “a matter of national security.”
There’s three main responses expected:
- what will happen to Senzo Mchunu amid calls that he must be fired?
- Will there be an investigation into Mkhwanazi’s accusations of collaboration between organised crime and politicians.
- Will the political killings task team be reinstated?
I, like many of you, will be watching on Sunday. We will debrief after.