South Africa parliament committee seeks more time to finish police corruption probe
Cape Town’s parliament committee investigating corruption and criminal infiltration in law enforcement wants more time. The Ad Hoc Committee on SAPS has aske...
Cape Town’s parliament committee investigating corruption and criminal infiltration in law enforcement wants more time. The Ad Hoc Committee on SAPS has asked the National Assembly for another extension as it races to finalise a draft report that runs to hundreds of pages.
The request came as the committee met virtually on Thursday, just ahead of a Friday deadline to submit its final findings. If approved, it would be the sixth extension granted to the panel.
Deadline slips again
The committee has spent months taking evidence and weighing testimony tied to serious allegations around South Africa’s policing and national security structures. It is also examining claims linked to KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.
Chairperson Soviet Lekganyane said members would wait for approval before deciding on their next move. “We will await for that approval of the extension and check the availability of members next week if members are available,” he said. “We will continue and if it’s not possible, the date of the next meeting will accordingly be communicated.”
The panel’s work has been slowed by the scale of the inquiry, the length of the draft report and delays involving high-profile witnesses. Those factors have pushed the committee past its original timetable more than once.
High stakes for Parliament
The inquiry has drawn close attention because it reaches into allegations of corruption, criminal networks and possible interference in law enforcement. In a related dispute reported earlier this week, committee members were said to be split over whether suspended police minister Senzo Mchunu disbanded the Political Killings Task Team at the behest of criminal cartels.
That disagreement showed how politically charged the probe has become. Parties in Parliament have not agreed on the weight of the evidence, with some members arguing there is enough circumstantial material to point to links with alleged criminal figures, while others say the forensic proof is not there.
For now, the committee is still waiting. If the Speaker grants the request, members are expected to reconvene next week to keep working through the report.
