Mkhwanazi says Mogotsi warned him about a case being brought against him.
KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi has accused suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu of sharing “too much information” about police operations with businessman Brown Mogotsi.
Testifying before the Madlanga commission on Friday, Mkhwanazi said Mogotsi always seemed to know about police operations and information, some of which the police commissioner was not aware.
He said the first time Mogotsi contacted him was via a WhatsApp message on 30 September 2024. At the time, Mogotsi was allegedly warning Mkhwanazi about an allegation that had been laid against him of defeating the ends of justice.
“He told me there was an attempt to discredit me,” said Mkhwanazi.
In the message, Mogotsi allegedly attached a copy of an occurrence book of the Saps.
“So he sent me a copy of this. And the contents of the occurrence book and the factual report
were exactly the same,” said Mkhwanazi.
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“It surprised me because these are documents of the police. A person not in law enforcement should not be in possession of this. He’s from the North West, but he is in possession of a copy of the occurrence book from Empangeni in KZN.
“There are no flights from Northwest to Mpangeni. To get there, we’ll have to take at least two flights to obtain a copy of this occurrence book. As well as the letter that he attached.”
Mogotsi warns Mkhwanazi
He said Mogotsi proceeded to warn him about one of his colleagues, to “check your standing with him”.
The businessman was referring to a police intelligence meeting attended by Crime Intelligence members, Mchunu, his staff and National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola, among others.
“Just check your standing with him. Yesterday, he pushed a negative narrative about you on the
CITs [cash-in-transit heists] in KZN,” a message, allegedly from Mogotsi to Mkhwanazi, read.
“He sent me these further screenshots, which included the screenshot of a presentation that was made. Someone took a photo of the presentation as it was made.
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“By reading the heading of the presentation on the projector, it’s definitely issues of Crime Intelligence that only people who are supposed to have knowledge about Crime Intelligence policies should be part of this presentation.”
Mkhwanazi said he managed to confirm that indeed such a meeting had occurred and that Mogotsi was not in attendance.
“So it is one of the people who was in that meeting that took the screenshot and sent it to Brown Mogotsi. Either Mogotsi was part of the meeting or a senior person from the police or the ministry who attended the meeting shared it with him.
“That was a concern for me because a person who’s not a police officer, even worse, a person who’s not working at Crime Intelligence, will sit in such a meeting and be able to take copies of presentations.”
Case against Mkhwanazi
At the time, Mkhwanazi said he was not aware of any case against him. The matter arose from him having advised his colleague on procedures to be followed when making an arrest.
The acting head of the Qalakabusha Correctional Centre in Empangeni was accused of possession of drugs and ammunition.
“I must say that what made me intervene was that incident, although the drugs and the ammunition that were found were not found in her possession, but were found outside the house where she was staying, which is a state house, which is within the state facility,” said Mkhwanazi.
“I advised the police officer, senior officer in charge of the operation, on how to handle that incident that occurred while making sure that the ends of justice are realised, the proper investigation is done, and we
don’t attract an illegal litigation against the organisation by arresting the wrong person. So that was my guidance to him.”
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“I asked questions and said, but you can’t detain a person if you have not confirmed that this belongs to this person. It’s like stopping a car driving and there are two or three occupants in a vehicle, you see a firearm inside, and you arrest the driver.
“First, you have to investigate, do touch DNA, and confirm who probably might have touched this
firearm. Then you can confirm who it belongs to before you arrest the person. It does not automatically mean that what you find in the area will belong to a person who resides in that facility.”
Political killings task team
Mkhwanazi said after police arrested Vusimuzi ‘Cat’ Matlala, they seized his phone, and the messages between him and Mogotsi allegedly revealed just how much Mogotsi knew about police operations.
The message exchanges showed Matlala complaining to Mogotsi about the police raids at his house.
Mogotsi allegedly told Matlala on 31 December 2024, “Stand back and relax. Today is D-Day.”
Mchunu’s letter, in which he ordered the disbandment of the task team, was dated 31 December 2024.
Mkhwanazi said he only heard about the disbandment on 2 January 2025.
Mogotsi allegedly proceeded to tell Matlala on 1 January 2025, “The task team that came to your house and harassed you has been dissolved.”
Matlala responded on 2 January 2025, saying, “Oh, really, when is this happening? I see you tried to call last night.”
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“They got the letter on Monday, as we speak, they’re bringing all the [121] dockets to Sibiya,” Mogotsi responded.
On Thursday, Mkhwanazi testified that he only learned of the dockets’ movement in May. At the time, they were already in Pretoria.
“My involvement in this is when I first received a briefing in May that the dockets are already in Pretoria. It was not explained that they went in batches; it was said 121 dockets are already in Pretoria, and when I asked who directed that, they said General [Dumisani] Khumalo was the one who ordered that the dockets be moved,” he said on Thursday.
‘Too much information’
When he finally read Mchunu’s letter, he said the minister only discussed the disbandment, border policing matters and the suspension of filling of positions at Crime Intelligence.
“It [the letter] doesn’t say anything about the case dockets,” said Mkhwanazi.
“Mchunu shared too much police information with this person, who is not supposed to be part of the police, and this Mogotsi seems to have an influence on the minister. He speaks to the minister and appears to know what is happening with the police, not only in the minister’s office, but also in investigations, an indication that he and Sibiya have contacts, and he seems to have access to Crime Intelligence.”
