The delay in the Madlanga commission’s work, which was due to start tomorrow, will add to public dismay about the prospects of speedily getting to the bottom of Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi’s explosive allegations of criminal influence in the criminal justice system.
Mkhwanazi implicated senior colleagues, police minister Senzo Mchunu and elements in the judicial system of being in collusion with organised crime.
President Cyril Ramaphosa quickly announced the appointment of a commission of inquiry, headed by retired Constitutional Court justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga. Ramaphosa said Mkhwanazi’s claims raised “serious concern about the constitution, the rule of law and national security”.
But then this week, effectively on the eve of the commission’s start date, the nation was told there would be a delay due to a lack of logistical readiness.
The whole embarrassing episode speaks to two things. The first is the notorious laxity with which much of the government carries out its obligations to the country and its citizens — as witnessed in failing service delivery.
As a consequence of the organisational lapse, justice minister Mmamoloko Kubayi announced the suspension of director-general Doctor Mashabane and action against the department’s information and communication technology deputy director-general.
Yet the matter cannot end with disciplinary steps against officials, necessary as they may be.
The failure to enable the commission to start its work on the appointed date speaks also to the tendency of the Ramaphosa administration to make lofty promises, but fall short when it comes to making good on its undertakings.
The delay will exacerbate the public’s anxiety about the state of the criminal justice system
Questions must be asked about why the minister and the president only became aware of the problem just over a week before the commission’s start date. Even though they are not responsible for doing the work themselves, the president and his minister cannot escape the political responsibility of providing oversight of government officials and their departments.
It appears that in this case there was a spectacular failure of project management by the presidency and the ministry, and that once the September 1 date was announced, they took their eye off the ball. They both have to take accountability for the fiasco.
We hope the president takes this episode as one more indication, and a serious warning, of how incapacitated his state is, despite all his party’s talk of building a capable state. In contrast to the solemn statement of concern by the president when announcing the commission, the turn of events suggests a lack of focus and urgency in dealing with a matter as grave for the country as Mkhwanazi’s allegations.
South Africans may have tolerated the fact that the original timeline, with interim reports at three and six months’ intervals, would have taken us into 2026 before the full truth of what has been going on in the criminal justice system was known.
But the delay will exacerbate the public’s anxiety about the state of the criminal justice system. This is especially so in relation to the police service, whose top leadership is engaged in a long-running internecine cold war — putting the very security of the country and its stability at risk.
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