Who’s who · Public record
Key figures in the Madlanga Commission
The people most often searched for in connection with the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry - the complainant whose allegations triggered it, the politicians and police leaders named in evidence, and the alleged figures at the centre of the testimony. Who they are, and how each is connected.
A commission of inquiry makes no finding of guilt. Everyone named here is presumed innocent unless and until convicted by a competent court. Allegations are reported as allegations and attributed to their source.
Who started it
The complainant
- Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi — KwaZulu-Natal provincial police commissioner
Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Sibusiso Mkhwanazi is the KZN provincial police commissioner whose public briefing on 6 July 2025 set the whole inquiry in motion. He alleged that a criminal syndicate had captured parts of the police, the prosecution and intelligence services - and that a specialised task team had been disbanded to protect those interests. He gave evidence as the inquiry's first witness across its opening three days (17-19 September 2025) - the complainant, not a suspect.
Read the full profile: Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi
Sources: Wikipedia - Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi · About the commission
Who testified early
Police leadership
- Lt-Gen Fannie Masemola — National Commissioner of the SAPS
Lieutenant-General Fannie Masemola is South Africa's National Commissioner of the police. He testified in the inquiry's early days (Days 4-5, 22-23 September 2025), and his evidence largely corroborated Mkhwanazi's account - telling the Commission the disbandment of the task team encroached on the National Commissioner's operational mandate, and that the police minister's role needs to be urgently defined.
Read the full profile: Lt-Gen Fannie Masemola
Sources: Wikipedia - Fannie Masemola
Named in testimony
Figures named in evidence
Named or scrutinised in evidence before the Commission. Each denies wrongdoing where applicable; none of this is a finding of guilt.
- Senzo Mchunu — Minister of Police (on special leave)
Senzo Mchunu is South Africa's Minister of Police, placed on special leave in July 2025 pending the inquiry. He was named in testimony over the alleged disbanding of a police task team that had been investigating organised crime - a decision central to Lt-Gen Mkhwanazi's allegations. He denies wrongdoing. As a commission of inquiry makes no findings of guilt, nothing here is a conclusion about him; the matter is one of the questions the Commission is examining.
Read the full profile: Senzo Mchunu
Sources: Wikipedia - Senzo Mchunu
- Lt-Gen Shadrack Sibiya — Suspended deputy national police commissioner
Lieutenant-General Shadrack Sibiya is the suspended deputy national commissioner of police for crime detection. He testified across Days 62-66 (February 2026), questioned in connection with the alleged interference in police investigations and the removal of dockets. He denies wrongdoing, though he conceded certain procedural deviations, and the Commission has made no finding against him. (He is a different person from witness Brigadier Kwazikwakhe Sibiya.)
Read the full profile: Lt-Gen Shadrack Sibiya
Not to be confused with witness Kwazikwakhe Sibiya
Sources: Wikipedia - Shadrack Sibiya
- Julius Mkhwanazi — Suspended EMPD deputy chief
Julius Mkhwanazi is the suspended deputy chief of the Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) - an entirely different person from Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, sharing a surname only. He testified (Days 43-44 and 89-91) over metro-police procurement and a 'blue lights' scandal linked to alleged cartel figure Cat Matlala, and was arrested in April 2026 on charges he denies. The charges are untested; he is presumed innocent.
Read the full profile: Julius Mkhwanazi
Sources: eNCA - Julius Mkhwanazi arrested
- Oupa ‘Brown’ Mogotsi — Alleged middleman
Oupa 'Brown' Mogotsi - sometimes referred to as 'Dr Mogotsi' - is described in evidence as an alleged middleman linked to the matters before the Commission. He testified in November 2025 (Days 35-37) and returned on 15 May 2026, where his bid to have Chief Evidence Leader Matthew Chaskalson recused for alleged bias was dismissed. He then largely declined to answer questions, invoking his right against self-incrimination, and was arrested shortly afterwards. These are allegations and procedural events on the public record, not findings of guilt.
Read the full profile: Oupa ‘Brown’ Mogotsi
Sources: eNCA - Mogotsi after recusal dismissed · Daily Maverick - police should investigate Mogotsi
- Maj-Gen Feroz Khan — Suspended Crime Intelligence deputy head
Major-General Feroz Khan is the suspended deputy head of SAPS Crime Intelligence, summoned to testify before the Commission from 1 July 2026 over what it calls 'very serious allegations' - chiefly that he interfered in the 2021 Aeroton cocaine bust. He withdrew two urgent court bids to stop the Commission accessing his seized phones. He has not yet testified; everything against him is an untested allegation and he is presumed innocent.
- Maj-Gen Richard Shibiri — SAPS Organised Crime head (dismissed)
Major-General Richard Shibiri headed the SAPS Organised Crime component until his dismissal. He testified in March 2026 about his ties to organised-crime accused Cat Matlala - including a roughly R70,000 payment he says was a repaid car loan - and was dismissed from SAPS in mid-2026 for misconduct that brought the service into disrepute. He denies wrongdoing and is reportedly challenging the dismissal. (He is not Lt-Gen Shadrack Sibiya - different surname, different person.)
People also ask
Key figures: frequently asked questions
- Who is Lt-Gen Mkhwanazi?
Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi is the KwaZulu-Natal provincial police commissioner. His public allegations on 6 July 2025 - that a criminal syndicate had captured parts of the police, prosecution and intelligence - triggered the establishment of the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry. He is the inquiry's central complainant.
- Who is the KZN police commissioner?
The KwaZulu-Natal provincial police commissioner is Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi. He has led the province's police since 2021, previously commanded the elite Special Task Force, and served as acting national police commissioner in 2011-2012.
- Who is the Minister of Police?
Senzo Mchunu is South Africa's Minister of Police, the political head of the police service. He was named in evidence before the Madlanga Commission over the alleged disbanding of a police task team, an allegation he denies. The Commission makes no finding of guilt.
- Who is the Deputy Minister of Police?
The Deputy Minister of Police is the political deputy to the Minister of Police, Senzo Mchunu, assisting in the oversight of the South African Police Service. It is the policing portfolio - the leadership and oversight of the police - that sits at the heart of the questions the Madlanga Commission is examining.
- Who is General Shadrack Sibiya?
Lieutenant-General Shadrack Sibiya is the suspended deputy national commissioner of police for crime detection. He has been named and scrutinised in evidence before the Commission in connection with allegations of interference in police investigations, which he denies. He is not the same person as witness Brigadier Kwazikwakhe Sibiya.
- Who is Brown Mogotsi?
Oupa 'Brown' Mogotsi, sometimes called 'Dr Mogotsi', is described in evidence as an alleged middleman connected to the matters before the Commission. His bid to have Chief Evidence Leader Matthew Chaskalson recused was dismissed on 15 May 2026; he then largely declined to answer questions and was arrested shortly afterwards. These are allegations and procedural facts, not findings of guilt.
- Who is Cat Matlala?
Vusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala is the businessman at the centre of the Madlanga Commission, named in connection with the alleged 'Big Five' cartel. On 25 June 2026 he pleaded guilty to fraud, corruption and money-laundering over the R360 million SAPS Medicare24 tender and turned section 204 state witness against his co-accused. He separately faces an attempted-murder trial and the wider cartel allegations remain untested; on those he is presumed innocent.
- Are the people named in the Madlanga Commission guilty?
No. A commission of inquiry does not charge, try or convict anyone - it hears evidence and reports. Everyone named here is presumed innocent unless and until convicted by a competent court. Any criminal consequences would follow only if the Commission's referrals lead to charges and a conviction in the ordinary courts.
Follow the people through the record.
This page is a quick orientation. For the full record, see the commission members who run the inquiry, the evidence leaders who lead the testimony, the witnesses who have appeared, the cases at the centre of it, and the alleged networks mapped from the evidence. New to commissions? Start with what a commission of inquiry is.