Former acting national police commissioner Khomotso Phahlane, former criminal intelligence chief Lt-Gen Dumisani Khumalo and former police watchdog boss Robert McBride are some of the big names that are expected to testify before parliament’s ad hoc committee when it resumes on January 13.
Other names on the list of witnesses to testify include forensic investigator Paul O’Sullivan and Julius Mkhwanazi, the suspended acting metro police chief of Ekurhuleni.
This was revealed on Wednesday by evidence leader Adv Norman Arendse during the committee’s sitting. The committee is investigating allegations made by the KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner, Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, of criminality, political interference and corruption in the police and criminal justice system.
Arendse said alleged political fixer Brown Mogotsi has raised security concerns and that his appearance, whether physical or online, will depend on further consultations with the committee.
He said O’Sullivan, who is in London, had also raised security concerns but had indicated he would be back in the country in February.
Parliament has also revealed that it has received submissions from members of the public who have raised allegations ranging from police corruption and political interference to inadequate protection for whistleblowers.
The committee has received submissions from civil society organisations and some former police officers.
Some submissions were received anonymously and some allege systemic corruption, weak oversight and fear of reprisals within law enforcement agencies.
Parliament’s Nicolette van Zyl-Gous mentioned 15 submissions, saying the recurring themes emerging from them include corruption and collusion involving members of law-enforcement agencies and related institutions, as well as weaknesses in internal oversight, disciplinary and accountability mechanisms.
“Most contributions do not provide probative evidence directly related to the allegations under consideration,” she said.
Van Zyl-Gous said submissions made by civil society groups warned about the impact on public trust in the police, correctional services, the National Prosecuting Authority, the criminal justice system, the judiciary and national security.
Some of the individuals who made written submissions before the committee include former police clerk and whistleblower Patricia Mashale, who, according to parliament, mentioned her alleged knowledge of corruption in the police.
Tiyani Hlungwani, a former head of the secret services account who was fired for allegedly blowing the whistle on corruption in the police, made a previous protected disclosure.
The former brigadier is set to appear before the Madlanga commission, which is investigating the same allegations as the ad hoc committee.
Former special director of public prosecutions Lawrence Mrwebi has also written to the committee alleging that Lt-Gen Mkwanazi lied under oath regarding his handling of a fraud and corruption case against former crime intelligence boss Richard Mdluli, misleading the inquiry and the public.
“He seeks to clarify that the Mdluli matter was solely about vehicle transactions and unrelated to broader allegations of corruption,” Van Zyl-Gous said.
She said Cpt Ramalepe and two others have also made allegations of drug cartels operating within the police force and related corruption reported to Mkhwanazi.
A former police crime intelligence analyst has also alleged there was political interference, corruption and manipulation within police leadership.
The committee has also received an anonymous submission that alleges systemic corruption, extortion, nepotism, and abuse of power in the police service in the Umzinyathi district, implicating senior officers and external associates.
A heated argument erupted during the sitting after EFF MP Julius Malema said there should not be a generalised attack on the judiciary if there was nothing substantive against them.
This after MK Party MP David Skosana said some judges should come before the committee to testify.
[...] the day you erode the good image and the authority of the judiciary, that is when you are taking this democracy to the dogs.
— Julius Malema, MP
Skosana said for years some judges have been accused of serious allegations, and those who have already been accused should be called to testify.
However, Malema said: “We must jealously guard against the integrity and the image of the judiciary and not make sweeping statements against the judiciary because the day you erode the good image and the authority of the judiciary, that is when you are taking this democracy to the dogs.”
He said while he was angry at the judiciary for not delivering the Phala Phala judgment on time, he was not going to paint each judge as being incompetent.
Malema said whoever makes allegations against judges should name them and not be “cowards”.
“Tell us which judge did the wrong thing,” he said.
Malema and Skosana’s heated exchange saw them raising their voices and speaking over each other.
The committee is scheduled to start its hearings again on January 13, with a report expected on February 20.
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