IN CONVERSATION WITH JEFF MABUNGA (YIMOSA: Founder)
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President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement of a judicial commission of inquiry into allegations of deep-rooted criminal collusion within the SAPS is not a decisive intervention. It’s just another delay tactic.
While Action Society acknowledges the gravity of the allegations made by Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, we are deeply concerned that the establishment of yet another commission will simply buy time for the political elite while the justice system continues to collapse around ordinary citizens.
South Africa has seen this playbook before. The Zondo Commission took four years and cost the taxpayer R850 million. The Marikana Commission dragged on for three years at R153 million. The Seriti Commission into the arms deal took four years and cost R130 million. The Life Esidimeni hearings ran for two years. These processes delivered volumes of evidence, but have yet to yield meaningful prosecutions or reforms. In the meantime, the rot festers.
We cannot afford years of testimony, expert panels, and legal delays while violent criminals, drug cartels, and corrupt officials operate with impunity.
The allegations made by Mkhwanazi of more than 120 politically sensitive dockets being withdrawn, of SAPS members being purged for probing too deep, and of direct interference by the Minister of Police point to deep SAPS capture by organised crime. That reality demands urgent action, not another expensive commission with no guarantee of results.
“Ordinary South Africans, particularly the vulnerable in poor communities, are already paying the price. They live with daily fear, with no faith that the police will protect them. The longer we wait for answers, the more lives will be lost and justice denied.” says Action Society spokesperson, Kaylynn Palm.
We call on the President to do more than announce inquiries. We demand:
- The immediate suspension and investigation of all senior officials named in Mkhwanazi’s disclosures;
- The reinstatement and protection of the disbanded task teams tackling political killings and organised crime;
- Urgent progress on decentralising policing power to allow provinces and communities to regain control over law enforcement.
“It is deeply troubling that the President sees the solution in yet another ad hoc commission, as if commissions, not arrests and prosecutions, are how justice is served. This is the work of the criminal justice system, not a panel of inquiry.” concludes Palm.
South Africa does not need another inquiry. We need accountability and action.
While Action Society acknowledges the gravity of the allegations made by Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, we are deeply concerned that the establishment of yet another commission will simply buy time for the political elite while the justice system continues to collapse around ordinary citizens.
South Africa has seen this playbook before. The Zondo Commission took four years and cost the taxpayer R850 million. The Marikana Commission dragged on for three years at R153 million. The Seriti Commission into the arms deal took four years and cost R130 million. The Life Esidimeni hearings ran for two years. These processes delivered volumes of evidence, but have yet to yield meaningful prosecutions or reforms. In the meantime, the rot festers.
We cannot afford years of testimony, expert panels, and legal delays while violent criminals, drug cartels, and corrupt officials operate with impunity.
The allegations made by Mkhwanazi of more than 120 politically sensitive dockets being withdrawn, of SAPS members being purged for probing too deep, and of direct interference by the Minister of Police point to deep SAPS capture by organised crime. That reality demands urgent action, not another expensive commission with no guarantee of results.
“Ordinary South Africans, particularly the vulnerable in poor communities, are already paying the price. They live with daily fear, with no faith that the police will protect them. The longer we wait for answers, the more lives will be lost and justice denied.” says Action Society spokesperson, Kaylynn Palm.
We call on the President to do more than announce inquiries. We demand:
- The immediate suspension and investigation of all senior officials named in Mkhwanazi’s disclosures;
- The reinstatement and protection of the disbanded task teams tackling political killings and organised crime;
- Urgent progress on decentralising policing power to allow provinces and communities to regain control over law enforcement.
“It is deeply troubling that the President sees the solution in yet another ad hoc commission, as if commissions, not arrests and prosecutions, are how justice is served. This is the work of the criminal justice system, not a panel of inquiry.” concludes Palm.
South Africa does not need another inquiry. We need accountability and action.
