By Dylan Bettencourt
- KwaZulu-Natal police boss Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi told Parliament he spoke out because his nephew’s drug problem showed him how crime breaks families.
- He said police must protect all citizens, including his own family, and warned that corruption and greed inside the force are putting everyone at risk.
KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi told Parliament that his own nephew is struggling with drug addiction, and that’s why he can’t stay silent about what’s wrong with the police.
He said seeing his family suffer opened his eyes to how deeply drugs and corruption are hurting ordinary people.
“If we keep quiet about these things, there will be no country left,” he told MPs.
Mkhwanazi said he relies on the police to protect his family, just like every South African. But he warned that greed, lies and power games in the police are putting everyone in danger.
During a tense day of testimony, Mkhwanazi accused senior officials of interfering in investigations, attacked journalists for reporting on secret police operations, and warned that “the country will burn” if intelligence files about ANC campaign payments ever come out.
He also said shutting down a special task team fighting political killings was unlawful, and claimed that honest officers trying to clean up Crime Intelligence are being punished instead of supported.
But what hit home most was his honesty about why he spoke out. “As a police officer, I could not keep quiet and allow wrongdoing to happen,” he said.
Pictured above: Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.
Image source: File
