Police whistle-blower rejects ‘information peddler’ label, calls for greater protection

MPs during the parliamentary ad hoc committee inquiry at the Good Hope Chambers in Cape Town on 23 October 2025. Picture: Gallo Images/Brenton Geach Whistle-blower and former South African Police Service (Saps) employee Patricia Morgan-Mashale has dismissed claims that she spreads falsehoods, asserting that all her disclosures are evidence-based. On Tuesday, Morgan-Mashale testified before Parliament’s ad hoc committee at the Good Hope Chamber in Cape Town.

The inquiry is probing alleged criminal infiltration and political interference within South Africa’s law enforcement structures. Morgan-Mashale disputed the testimony of Crime Intelligence head Dumisani Khumalo, who alleged that her hiring at Saps was improper. Soon after her employment began, rumours emerged suggesting she had been fired by the Department of Health.

Additionally, allegations arose that her appointment was influenced by a personal relationship with former Free State deputy police commissioner Eric Nkuna after she had briefly assisted in his office for two weeks while his secretary was on leave. “I didn’t even know who the deputy provincial commissioner was,” Morgan-Mashale said. Although she had been recruited through the usual Saps hiring procedures, Morgan-Mashale said she was later subjected to departmental charges claiming she had not revealed her dismissal from the Department of Health.