President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement yesterday about the formation of a task team to investigate nine police officers, as recommended in Madlanga commission’s interim report, has been widely welcomed.
Ramaphosa appointed police minister Firoz Cachalia and the national commissioner, Fannie Masemola, to set up the task team, which will report to Gen Masemola. This move comes at a time when public confidence in policing and the broader criminal justice system is at its lowest point since the advent of democracy.
The Madlanga Commission of Inquiry into Criminality, Political Interference and Corruption in the Criminal Justice System was convened after explosive allegations by KZN police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi. In July 2025, Mkhwanazi shocked the nation with revelations about sophisticated criminal syndicates having penetrated the criminal justice system.
Crucially, the task team will act on individuals already identified by the commission, signalling a move from inquiry to consequence. Among those named are five senior police officers: Maj-Gen Lesetja Senona, Maj-Gen Richard Shibiri, Brig Mbangwa Nkhwashu, Brig Rachel Matjieng, and Sgt Fannie Nkosi.
Also in the firing line are suspended Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department chief Julius Mkhwanazi, three metro police colleagues, and five Ekurhuleni municipal officials. Interestingly, the announcement coincides with what has been nothing short of a humiliating spectacle: the testimony of Senona, head of the KwaZulu-Natal Hawks. Far from inspiring confidence, Senona’s evidence has exposed alarming gaps in competence, judgment, and integrity. More shocking is his questionable conduct being heightened by his fraternisation with suspected criminal figures.
Senona’s association with Vusi “Cat” Matlala, a man linked to the murder of whistleblower Babita Deokaran and who is currently behind bars for the attempted murder of his former girlfriend, is downright disturbing.
A top cop hobnobbing with a suspected crime boss is emblematic of a system in decay. For a public already crushed by the financial and social costs of poor policing — from rampant crime to ballooning private security bills — Ramaphosa’s move has been broadly welcomed.
It restores a measure of purpose to the Madlanga Commission and offers a rare glimpse of accountability beyond rhetoric. Yet announcements alone will not suffice. South Africans have seen too many task teams, panels, and commissions dissolve into inertia.
The real test will be whether this process leads to swift, credible investigations, prosecutions, and, where warranted, convictions. Anything less will deepen cynicism and confirm fears that even the most damning evidence can be neutralised by power.
