MPs challenge legal advisor's claim on Mkhwanazi's allegations
Image: Thobile Mathonsi / Independent Newspapers
MPs on Tuesday raised their concerns when a parliamentary legal advisor suggested that KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi's allegations were technically not evidence.
This happened when the Ad Hoc Committee, which is mandated to investigate Mkhwanazi's allegations, met for the first time to discuss some of its preparations, such as the terms of reference and getting prisoners testify as witnesses.
Responding to the questions, parliamentary legal advisor Andile Tetyana said there was a draft terms of reference that could be released in two or three days to MPs for comments.
Tetyana also said there was a lot of backroom legal technical support that should take place, and that witnesses would need to be identified.
Video Player is loading.
Play Video
Play
Unmute
Current Time
0:00
/
Duration
-:-
Loaded :
0%
Stream Type LIVE
Seek to live, currently behind live
LIVE
Remaining Time
-
0:00
This is a modal window.
Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.
Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan
Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan
Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan
Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque
Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps
Reset
restore all settings to the default values Done
Close Modal Dialog
End of dialog window.
Advertisement
Video Player is loading.
Play Video
Play
Unmute
Current Time
0:00
/
Duration
-:-
Loaded :
0%
Stream Type LIVE
Seek to live, currently behind live
LIVE
Remaining Time
-
0:00
This is a modal window.
Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.
Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan
Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan
Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan
Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque
Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps
Reset
restore all settings to the default values Done
Close Modal Dialog
End of dialog window.
Next
Stay
Close ✕
'I am saying this with the greatest of respect. What General Mkhwanazi said on 6 July 2025 was not evidence in a technical sense. Of course, one would need a legal person to go around speaking to people, who will be able to corroborate what Lieutenant-General Mkhwanazi said. The committee can't do that, and, of course, you need sworn statements from witnesses drafted and so on. That is the kind of work that will take place in the next two to three weeks,' he said.
EFF leader Julius Malema questioned where the remark about Mkhwanazi said was not evidence came from.
'You can't start by saying what General Mkhwanazi said is not evidence. That is very dismissive. Right at the beginning, we are starting on the wrong footing.
'Please, when people are asked, especially support staff, they must not enter the terrain. They must give us technical advice and leave the rest to us because we are not to leave here being part of a remark that says what Mkhwanazi said, not evidence,' Malema said.
MK Party's MP David Skosana said he was a bit disturbed by the legal team's remarks about Mkhwanazi's allegations.
'If they want to work with us, they should not tell us that what Mkhwanazi said is not evidence. This is disturbing. Why are we here? Are we here for gossiping? We are not here for that,' Skosana said.
'Mkhwanazi presented, and he attached evidence in that press statement,' he said before asking that the chief parliamentary legal advisor should attend their future meetings.
IFP MP Albert Mncwango said he was equally disturbed to hear that Mkhwanazi's revelations were actually not evidence.
'I think that was actually defeating the purpose of this session,' Mncwango said.
He also raised his concerns about the absence of the chief parliamentary advisor at the meeting.
'This is a critical start to this process of investigation. It is very crucial that we start from a solid foundation and a solid legal foundation as well.'
ANC MP Xola Nqola said they preferred the chief parliamentary legal advisor deployed to the committee to assist it, given the nature of the issues they would be handling.
'Without sounding, we don't take seriously the legal advisors that are here; they can work as a team led by the chief legal advisor,' Nqola said.
Committee chairperson Soviet Lekganyane described Tetyana's remarks as being subjective and pleaded with MPs not to dwell on them.
'He can't decide for us what is evidence and what is not evidence. It is unfortunate that it has been said here. He can't say that before we agree on the terms of reference. The terms of reference will tell us this is evidence or it is not evidence,' Lekganyane said.
ActionSA MP Dereleen James said the statement by Tetyana was out of line based on allegations made by Mkhwanazi and the office he held.
James took issue that an ANC MP was elected as the committee chairperson.
'How do we garner public trust here this morning when we have a chairperson who has been elected from the very party where most of these people are embroiled?
'How does that make the public feel to know that today we have a member from the same family, where all these people come from?' she asked.
This prompted the ANC and Patriotic Alliance to raise concerns that James did not use the opportunity to raise her concern when Lekganyane was elected, but the MK Party and EFF came to James' defence.
ANC chief Mdumiseni Ntuli stated that the committee would discharge its responsibility consistently within the Constitution and the laws of the country.
'There should not be fear that because there are others who have come from this and other party, this might in any way negatively contaminate the process we are engaged in.
'We should get our work tested in action as opposed to what maybe our own preconceived ideas with one another as we start our work,' Ntuli said.
Lekganyane said they were sworn as MPs and should act within the law in executing their responsibility.
'I was not sworn through the law of the ANC. There is only one law to swear in MPs,' he said.
'It will be sheer hypocrisy on our part if there is anything we are going to do is meant to shoot down the noble intention of Parliament when it appointed this Ad Hoc Committee,' he said.
mayibongwe.maqhina@inl.co.za
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
IOL News
5 hours ago
- IOL News
Bishop Lavis youth sentenced to 75 years for family murders
Cevyn Kemp was sentenced at the Parow Magistrate's Court after killing his family members. Image: Pexels A 20-year-old from Bishop Lavis, Cevyn Kemp, has been sentenced to 75 years in prison for the brutal murders of three family members, whose bludgeoned bodies were found in their backyard. He was convicted on three counts of murder in the Parow Regional Court. He was sentenced to 25 years' imprisonment on each count, to run consecutively. The killings took place on December 14, 2022, at 18 Marlin Lane in the quiet neighbourhood of Nooitgedacht, Bishop Lavis. Provincial detectives were called to the scene in the early hours of the morning, where they discovered the bodies of Kemp's 46-year-old mother, Elmoline Kemp, his 13-year-old brother, Peter Kemp, and his 54-year-old aunt, Shireen Isaacs. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ The victims were found in the backyard next to a blood-soaked mattress. The women were lying face down while the teenager was on his back. All had sustained blunt force injuries to the head and face. Kemp was the only surviving family member at the address and was taken into police custody. Forensic pathologists were called to the scene as no weapon was immediately recovered. They later concluded that the injuries were likely caused by a heavy object such as a brick or the back of an axe. Cevyn Kemp was sentenced at the Parow Magistrate's Court after killing his family members. Image: File Captain Zinele Ngqola led the investigation, assisted by constables Klerk and Sibusiso Manqindi. On December 16, two days after the incident, the investigating team contacted a police psychologist to assist in interviewing Kemp while he was in custody. The psychologist was taken to the crime scene before being allowed to engage with the suspect. During the interview, Kemp confessed to the killings. He told the police that an argument with his younger brother had escalated, leading him to strike the boy multiple times in the head with a brick. The court heard that when his mother arrived home and discovered the body, Kemp said he panicked and assaulted her in the same manner. Later that day, his aunt entered the home, and he struck her as well using the same brick. A formal confession was obtained, and a pointing-out was conducted in which Kemp showed officers where he had hidden the murder weapon. He admitted to washing the brick with bleach and soap before concealing it among other bricks at the property.
IOL News
7 hours ago
- IOL News
PRASA's Crisis of Accountability: Why the Boardroom Must Be Investigated and Raided
Law enforcement agencies — particularly the Hawks — have launched search and seizure operations against PRASA executives and administrative staff. Laptops are confiscated. Documents are removed. Offices are raided. However, board members remain untouched, says the writer. Image: Jacques Naude/Independent Newspapers By any standard of governance — legal, constitutional, or ethical — the failures plaguing the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) can be traced directly to its board. What is less ordinary, and far more disturbing, is the way accountability has been applied so selectively. Time and again, executives and senior officials are suspended, investigated, or dismissed, often amid significant public attention. Yet board members — the very individuals tasked with oversight — remain untouched. That pattern is not only unfair, it is deeply damaging to the principles of the rule of law, institutional integrity, and public trust. PRASA, like all state-owned entities, has a functioning board that carries legal and fiduciary responsibilities. The tenders that are awarded, the procurement decisions that are made, and the operational directions taken are all the product of board-sanctioned processes. Executives do not act in a vacuum. They work within governance frameworks that require decisions to be reviewed, approved, and frequently initiated by the board. This raises a critical question. If some of the executives who have faced disciplinary action or criminal investigation were simply implementing board-approved decisions, then what role did the board play in those decisions? And more importantly, why has there been so little accountability at that level? The standard narrative — that executive management failed while the board remained passive or uninformed — begins to fall apart under scrutiny. It is not a theoretical concern. In terms of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), PRASA's board is not an advisory body. It is the accounting authority. That status carries with it binding legal obligations. Section 51 of the PFMA makes this crystal clear. Accounting authorities must ensure effective, efficient, and transparent systems of financial and risk management. They must prevent irregular, fruitless, and wasteful expenditure. The Companies Act reinforces this by imposing fiduciary duties on directors to act in good faith and the best interests of the company, or in the case of PRASA, in the public interest. Take the Afro 4000 procurement scandal. The board approved it. Technical warnings were reportedly raised about the specifications of the locomotives. The trains were incompatible with South Africa's rail infrastructure — too tall for existing tunnels and bridges. Yet the deal, worth R2.65 billion, went ahead. That decision was not made in isolation by a single executive. It would have passed through multiple governance layers and ultimately received board approval. That failure is emblematic of a deeper problem — one of institutional decay, negligence, and possibly complicity. During the 2018 and 2019 financial years, PRASA's board reportedly held meetings for a full year without keeping formal minutes. The chairperson at the time is said to have received over R1.2 million in remuneration for those undocumented meetings. The failure to record official board decisions is more than a lapse in procedure. It is a fundamental breach of governance practice. It suggests an environment where oversight was neither practised nor valued. And yet, when a scandal erupts, it is executives who are dismissed or paraded before the public. Their reputations are often destroyed long before any formal finding is made. Meanwhile, board members continue to serve or exit quietly, with little to no scrutiny of their role in the dysfunction. This imbalance begs the question: Is the lack of board accountability a matter of political convenience? Board appointments in state-owned entities are often political. Holding executives accountable may temporarily satisfy public outrage. But investigating a board risks exposing the very political networks that put them there in the first place. That makes such action far less likely. Which brings us to a recent and increasingly bizarre pattern. Law enforcement agencies — particularly the Hawks — have launched search and seizure operations against PRASA executives and administrative staff. Laptops are confiscated. Documents are removed. Offices are raided. But in all of this, not once has a current or former board member been subjected to similar treatment. Not one home has been searched. Not one board office has been entered. Not one director has faced the same intensity of scrutiny. That is not just strange. It is alarming. If wrongdoing occurred at the level of governance — and there is mounting evidence that it did — then failure to investigate the board undermines the entire justice process. The law does not distinguish between an executive who signs off on a questionable contract and a board member who authorises or enables it. In public entities, the board is the final line of defence. If mismanagement or corruption took place with board approval, or worse, with its silent consent, then it is not less serious — it is more so. The Zondo Commission taught the nation a vital lesson. State capture did not begin at the operational level. It began in the boardroom. It began with individuals who had oversight powers and either abused them or looked away. PRASA cannot afford to repeat this history. It would be naïve to believe that collapses of governance on this scale happened without the knowledge or involvement of the board. The idea that executives alone engineered PRASA's failures while the board watched passively stretches the limits of both logic and law. If justice is to be done — and be seen to be done — then the boardroom must be subjected to the same investigative scrutiny as the executive corridor.
IOL News
8 hours ago
- IOL News
Zama Zamas - a ticking time bomb
The police inspect the Stilfontein mine, in the North West Province, where illegal mining is rife. Armed criminal syndicates frequently control zama zama operations, leading to an increase in violent crime, including gunfights, turf wars, and attacks on law enforcement. Image: Timothy Bernard / Independent Newspapers Illegal mining, driven by zama zamas — illegal or artisanal miners who exploit abandoned or active mines — has become one of the most urgent threats to South Africa's public safety, national security, and economic stability. With thousands of miners working in secret underground shafts, the illicit activity is fueling crime, endangering communities, and severely damaging the environment. The severity of the crisis was underscored in a recent raid at Sheba Gold Mine in Barberton, where nearly 500 illegal miners were arrested during Operation Vala Umgodi, a government initiative aimed at cracking down on illegal mining. Authorities believe more than 1,000 zama zamas were operating in the mine before the operation began. Roughly 400 are still believed to be underground, resisting law enforcement efforts to bring them to the surface. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading But Sheba is not an isolated case. Illegal mining is widespread across South Africa, particularly in areas rich in gold, platinum, and other minerals. Known hotspots include Dooronkop Mine near Slovoville in Soweto, Randfontein, Krugersdorp, Barberton, Rustenburg, Welkom, Carletonville, the East Rand, and Bloemfontein in the Free State. Smaller towns like Vaal Reef and Witbank have also reported growing illegal mining activity. Mining experts estimate that more than 120 000 zama zamas are currently operating across the country. Many work in disused or abandoned mines, where law enforcement presence is minimal, and entry points are largely unsecured. These makeshift mining operations are not only illegal but also extremely dangerous—miners often dig without proper equipment, safety gear, or ventilation, leading to frequent tunnel collapses and deaths. A National Crisis Posing Grave Risks The risks posed by illegal mining extend far beyond those underground. Armed criminal syndicates frequently control zama zama operations, leading to an increase in violent crime, including gunfights, turf wars, and attacks on law enforcement. Police report that many of these groups are heavily armed and deeply embedded in local communities, making enforcement both dangerous and complex. Illegal miners themselves are often victims of exploitation. Many are undocumented foreign nationals who are recruited or forced into the mines by crime networks. They work under harsh conditions for minimal or no pay, with no legal protections or recourse. Injuries and fatalities are common, and the bodies of deceased miners are frequently abandoned underground. The environmental toll is equally severe. Illegal mining operations typically use mercury and other harmful chemicals to extract gold, polluting nearby rivers and groundwater. Waste is dumped indiscriminately, causing soil erosion, vegetation loss, and long-term health risks to residents living near mining areas. In some regions, water sources once used for drinking and farming are now contaminated beyond recovery. Government Response and Community Impact In response, the South African government has stepped up operations through initiatives like Operation Vala Umgodi and proposed reforms under the National Mining Safety Act. The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy has also pledged to formalise parts of the small-scale mining sector in a bid to offer legal pathways and reduce the appeal of illegal operations. However, enforcement remains inconsistent, and progress is slow. Local police forces, especially in smaller towns, are often under-resourced and overwhelmed. Community leaders say zama zamas return shortly after raids end, reoccupying mines and continuing operations. Residents are caught in the crossfire, living in fear of armed groups and suffering from the collapse of local infrastructure, contaminated environments, and rising crime. Barberton, with its deep historical ties to gold mining, has become a flashpoint in the fight against illegal operations. Local officials have called for broader solutions that address the root causes of illegal mining—unemployment, poverty, and lack of economic opportunity. Community groups are urging government investment in legal mining initiatives, job creation programs, and stronger cross-border enforcement to curb the flow of undocumented miners. Without decisive, coordinated action, the threat posed by the estimated 120,000 zama zamas operating across South Africa is likely to intensify — further endangering lives, crippling ecosystems, and undermining lawful mining operations that contribute to the national economy.
