By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) has confirmed that it has requested a sworn statement from KwaZulu-Natal police chief Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi by March 19 over allegations of abusing power.
Ipid says the probe is in connection with Mkhwanazi’s alleged interference with the arrest of a senior Correctional Services official Nelly Ndlovu in Richards Bay in 2023.
The investigation follows an anonymous complaint from the public.
IPID spokesperson Lizzy Suping has requested that the Provincial Commissioner submit a sworn statement by Wednesday, 19 March 2025.
“It should be noted that the letter written to Lt-General Mkhwanazi by Ipid’s Acting Head of Investigations that the Police Minister requested Ipid to investigate the Provincial Commissioner was erroneously written.”
According to the Ipid letter, dated 8 January 2024, the SA Police Service raided Ndlovu’s Empangeni home, where officers found five R5 rifle rounds of ammunition and 12 pills, suspected to be drugs, in a dustbin outside the house.
The items were seized as evidence, and Ndlovu was arrested and held at the Empangeni Police Station.
“This investigation is a result of an anonymous complaint from the public. The investigation is still in its infancy stages, and Ipid will only engage on the matter once the investigation is concluded,” Shuping said.
Meanwhile Minister of Police Senzo Mchunu confirmed he did not order the probe.
“I do want to repeat that I have not laid any complaint against Lieutenant General Mkhwanazi. I do want to state, however, that we need to intensify our efforts on effective and efficient law enforcement in the Republic of South Africa, said Mchunu.