Hearing record
Day 1
Witness: Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi
Evidence led by Advocate Mahlape Sello SC
The commission opens at the Bridget Mabandla Justice College in Irene, Centurion, with the man whose July 2025 media briefing set the whole inquiry in motion. Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi takes the stand to lay out, under oath, his allegation that criminal syndicates have infiltrated South Africa's police, prosecution and political structures.
The day in brief
What you need to know
- Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga formally opens the Commission of Inquiry into Criminality, Political Interference and Corruption in the Criminal Justice System, established by President Cyril Ramaphosa after Mkhwanazi's 6 July 2025 allegations.
- Mkhwanazi is the first witness, chosen because his public claims triggered the inquiry; his evidence is led by Advocate Mahlape Sello SC.
- He alleges that criminal syndicates have infiltrated police, prosecutorial, intelligence and political structures, compromising the criminal justice system.
- He tells the commission the KwaZulu-Natal Political Killings Task Team (PKTT) was successful and disagrees with the view that it added no value.
- He alleges suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu may have been 'influenced' when ordering the PKTT's disbandment.
- Deputy National Commissioner Shadrack Sibiya is among the senior officials named in the opening testimony.
- Strict security measures were put in place around the venue ahead of Mkhwanazi's appearance.
Full coverage
The day, in depth
A briefing becomes a commission
Corruption Watch and SAnews reported that the hearings opened on Wednesday 17 September 2025 with Mkhwanazi as the first witness. His earlier public allegations, made at a July 2025 media briefing, were the direct cause of President Ramaphosa establishing the inquiry. Day 1 was devoted to setting institutional context, timelines and the alleged patterns of interference before the commission.
The Political Killings Task Team dispute
According to Corruption Watch and The Citizen, Mkhwanazi told the commission he disagreed with then police minister Senzo Mchunu's view that the KZN Political Killings Task Team brought no value, arguing it had in fact been successful. He said he believed Mchunu may have been influenced in the decision to disband it. Mchunu is suspended and has not been found guilty of any offence.
Naming senior officials
IOL and Daily Maverick's guide to the main players noted that Mkhwanazi's allegations reached into the top ranks of the SAPS, including Deputy National Commissioner Shadrack Sibiya. All those named are entitled to the presumption of innocence and will have the opportunity to respond as the commission proceeds.
Our analysis
The bottom line
Day 1 mattered less for any single revelation than for what it established procedurally: the man who forced the inquiry into being was now repeating his claims under oath, where they could be tested. That shift, from a televised briefing to sworn evidence led by senior counsel, is what gives the allegations their weight going forward.
The framing Mkhwanazi chose is worth noting. By centring the disbandment of the Political Killings Task Team, he tied a specific, documentable administrative decision to his broader thesis of infiltration. That gives the commission a concrete thread to pull on rather than an abstract claim of corruption, and it is a claim that later witnesses would be asked to corroborate or dispute.
It is important to stress that at this stage these are allegations. Those named, including the suspended minister and serving generals, have not been found to have done anything unlawful, and the commission's task is precisely to weigh the evidence rather than to accept the opening witness's account at face value.
Analysis is the archive’s own comment on the public proceedings, grounded in the record above. It weighs the evidence and the process; questions of individual guilt are for the courts and the commission to decide. Everyone named is presumed innocent.
On the record
Who testified this day
Follow the threads
Who Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi connects to
Senzo Mchunu
Mkhwanazi alleged Mchunu disbanded the political killings task team to shield politically connected interests.
View profile →Corroborated byLieutenant-General Fannie Masemola
National Commissioner Masemola's early testimony largely supported Mkhwanazi's account of the task-team disbandment.
View profile →Implicated in his evidenceLieutenant-General Shadrack Sibiya
Mkhwanazi named Sibiya among the senior officers he alleged interfered with investigations.
View profile →Named in his evidenceOupa 'Brown' Mogotsi
Mkhwanazi described Mogotsi as a conduit between the minister and an alleged cartel figure.
View profile →Distinct person, same surnameJulius Mkhwanazi
Frequently confused with him; Julius Mkhwanazi is the suspended EMPD deputy chief, an entirely different person.
View profile →In the room & on the record
Counsel, the panel and sources
Evidence led by
- Advocate Mahlape Sello SC
On the panel
- Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga (chairperson)
Sources
- Corruption Watch - The Madlanga commission's first week: a brief summary (Sep 2025) ↗
- SAnews - Madlanga Commission: Lt. General Mkhwanazi gives evidence (17 Sep 2025) ↗
- The Citizen - Madlanga commission: What you may have missed so far (Sep 2025) ↗
- IOL - WATCH: Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi testifies at Madlanga Commission (17 Sep 2025) ↗