Ramaphosa orders task team to probe officials implicated in Madlanga report

President Cyril Ramaphosa has directed Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia to establish a task team to investigate individuals implicated in the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry’s interim report. In its interim report handed to Ramaphosa, the commission found prima facie evidence against nine Ekurhuleni Metro officials and five SAPS members, including KwaZulu-Natal Hawks head Major General Lesetja Senona. While the commission was yet to make final findings, Ramaphosa, in a statement issued on Thursday, said the prima facie evidence against the individuals warranted immediate action.

President Ramaphosa expects all law enforcement agencies and other relevant criminal justice institutions to act with speed in implementing the recommendations of the commission’s interim report. “Such immediate action will help restore public trust and strengthen operational capacity in the affected state entities tasked with fighting crime and corruption. “Where the commission has found prima facie evidence of wrongdoing, it has made referrals for investigation by the appropriate officials in the South African Police Service (SAPS), Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) or the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (EMM),” the Presidency said.

In its three-month interim report, the commission found that there was prima facie evidence against the individuals on allegations of criminality, corruption, fraud, murder and perjury. The commission was established by Ramaphosa following the explosive press briefing by KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi in July last year. During that briefing, Mkhwanazi alleged that suspended police minister Senzo Mchunu, other politicians, senior police officials and members of the judiciary were colluding with members of a criminal syndicate to undermine police investigations. While witnesses testifying at the commission have implicated Mchunu, the suspended police minister was not among the individuals whom the commission recommended for criminal investigation in its interim report.