The National Anti-Corruption Advisory Council (Nacac), headed by acting police minister Firoz Cachalia, has warned that the country’s ability to combat corruption is being undermined by a weak crime intelligence system but stopped short of recommending that it be disbanded.
Instead, Nacac, which submitted its close-out report to President Cyril Ramaphosa in August, recommended that the Madlanga commission of inquiry’s terms of reference be expanded to focus on the “dire state of crime intelligence”.
The crime intelligence division in the SA Police Service (SAPS) is dysfunctional and “plagued by endemic levels of corruption”, including compromised personnel who were hired during the state capture era.
Nacac advised that all people occupying such posts should be vetted. “Given that it is crime intelligence itself that carries out such vetting, this poses a conundrum,” the report says.
The division has been bogged down by troubles for nearly two decades since Richard Mdluli was appointed its head. During his tenure, the unit was accused of being turned into a political weapon to protect allies of former president Jacob Zuma while persecuting rivals.
Warning that SA’s crime intelligence had become a major obstacle in combating corruption, Nacac said the Madlanga commission should consider “the possibility of establishing dedicated crime intelligence units in the agencies responsible for investigating serious corruption and organised crime”.
It wrote in the report: “Nacac was advised by people with deep knowledge and familiarity with fighting corruption and organised crime that the crime intelligence division should be disbanded and reconstructed afresh. While Nacac has not gone this far, it recommends that the Madlanga commission accord priority attention to investigating crime intelligence.”
Should Nacac’s recommendations be adopted, it would add to the Madlanga commission’s extensive powers, including subpoenas, search-and-seizure operations and the ability to recommend on-the-spot suspensions or criminal prosecutions.
The commission, which will report directly to Ramaphosa, speaker of the National Assembly Thoko Didiza and chief justice Mandisa Maya, will also be able to hold private hearings to protect intelligence sources and whistle-blowers.
It will probe whether police minister Senzo Mchunu unlawfully disbanded the political killings task team, removed more than 100 case dockets and imposed a hiring freeze on SAPS crime intelligence. Mchunu has been placed on special leave.
The commencement of the commission was indefinitely postponed in August due to a delay in the procurement of critical infrastructure. It was due to start on Monday.
Nacac’s recommendations are part of other submissions to overhaul the criminal justice system. Its solution includes a review of mandates so the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) concentrates exclusively on corruption and commercial crime, while the Hawks focuses on organised crime.
But without a functioning intelligence core, Nacac warned, even streamlined structures will struggle.
Performed woefully
“Particular concern has been expressed regarding the dysfunctionality of crime intelligence. This unit is meant to provide a critical service to the policing units fighting corruption. Not only does it appear that crime intelligence has performed woefully in its function, but corruption within the division has reached epidemic proportions,” Nacac said in the report.
It recommended pumping more resources into IDAC, freeing it from public service pay caps and giving it its own intelligence arm and the power to chase anyone from chief director level upward, plus private sector heavyweights. In the short term, Nacac recommended raiding the Hawks anti-corruption budget, rebranding IDAC within six months and recruiting top-flight legal, forensic and analytic talent on market rates.
Nacac also recommended giving the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) its own budget vote, accounting officer and salary structure. If vacancies linger for more than a year, the NPA should fill them via short-term contracts, keeping a slice of its funding to reward performance and plug talent gaps.
Update: September 1 2025
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