Retired Constitutional Court justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga says if Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi’s allegations of corruption in the justice system are proven to be true it spells “doom for the rule of law”.
Madlanga made the remarks on the first day of the commission of inquiry into criminality, political interference and corruption within SA’s criminal justice system on Wednesday.
The commission — established by President Cyril Ramaphosa after Mkhwanazi’s sensational revelations that senior police officers, police minister Senzo Mchunu, some prosecutors and judges were captured by criminal syndicates — is taking place in Pretoria.
Mkhwanazi’s allegations have thus far resulted in the suspension of Mchunu and SAPS deputy national commissioner Shadrack Sibiya, putting the criminal justice cluster in a quandary.
Mkhwanazi was the first witness and said he went public with the allegations because he wanted to sound the alarm on the trouble police officers experienced, which could lead to “total collapse” to the justice system.
“It has been my aim to demonstrate that the criminal justice system has been subject to a continuous threat as well as sabotage. We believe it is at total risk of a total collapse, if nothing is done. Urgent interventions are required to avert this outcome. I believe this commission will stand to play a very important role in order to help us to prevent this total collapse of the justice system in our country,” he said.
He said the July 2025 briefing was a product of work by a team of concerned SAPS officials, not just him.
Madlanga said Mkhwanazi’s allegations, if proven to be true, spelt doom for the operation of the rule of law in SA.
“If the allegations are proved to be true that spells doom for SA’s criminal justice system. A healthy justice system is key to the rule of law and in turn to a functioning constitutional democracy. A criminal justice system that is populated by corrupt functionaries, many criminals especially those holding positions of influence, will rarely, if ever, answer. At the centre of any well-functioning democracy is a functioning criminal justice system. If you subvert the criminal justice system, you subvert the rule of law and constitutional democracy itself,” Madlanga said.
“Ours from today is to investigate whether our criminal justice system is what it should be or whether it has been infiltrated by criminal syndicates.”
He said it was important for the commission to comb through all evidence put before it to test the truthfulness of the allegations.
Chief evidence leader Terry Motau said the commission would examine Mkhwanazi’s allegations “openly and impartially.”
He warned that interruptions to the commission’s work would constitute criminal offence.
Former president Jacob Zuma and his MK party have voiced unhappiness with the commission proceedings while the party is in court contesting its establishment.
Motau said interruptions to the commission’s work would interrupt the tight deadlines set by Ramaphosa.
Watch the commission here:
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