By Lesedi Sibiya-Diplomatic Insider 

Head of the National Organised Crime Task Team, Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi suggests that officials within the criminal justice system be severely and closely scrutinised on the basis that they may be members of criminal gangs. 

Mkhwanazi also serves as the KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner, and has expressed that the influence of gangs has superseded not only within the police but simultaneously the judiciary and correctional services.

 He has addressed the Parliamentary Summit on Gangs and Violent Crime and has stated that to win the war against the criminal underworld that there needs to be major reforms within the justice system. 

Mkhwanazi was the guest speaker at the summit which was hosted by parliament in order to discuss ways to implement the fight against gang violence. He informed the summit that the government needs to find a concrete way to infiltrate every single gang in the country, including the surge of foreign gangs.

 “We need to look at the officers that we employ in these law enforcement agencies that we have. Are we employing, are we recruiting gangsters? We have generals perhaps that are currently in the police that grew up as members of a gang until they joined the police, and then you trust that the generals are going to come up with a solution, and yet they are the members of the gangs themselves” said Mkhwanazi. 

The summit had also heard from the various crime victims and community organisations that have called for more active resources to combat gang violence specifically within Cape Town.

 Mkhwanazi also suggested that there be one police force dedicated to fighting against crime within the entire country and urged various lawmakers to decentralise the South African Police Service (SAPS) in order to allow different factions of government to get involved.

“I’m challenging us to think about whether it is still necessary to have one entity that is controlled in one central part of the country to be responsible for the safety of the citizens of the republic,” said Mkhwanazi. 

“Perhaps the establishment of all these other entities is an indication that we need to diversify somehow and differentiate between what is done at a national level and what is done at different provincial levels” Mkhwanazi said further.