Controversial lawyer and disbarred advocate Malesela Daniel Teffo has opened a criminal case against KwaZulu-Natal provincial police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, accusing the senior officer of intimidation, threats of assault and
crimen injuria.
Teffo lodged the complaint at the Sandton police station in Johannesburg on Wednesday, alleging that Mkhwanazi threatened him during a video call following a WhatsApp message Teffo had sent criticising the police general.
According to a police file, the complaint relates to a video call that allegedly took place on March 2 at about 11:45am, when Teffo was having breakfast at a McDonald’s in Rivonia, making Sandton the nearest police station.
During the call, Mkhwanazi allegedly confronted Teffo about a WhatsApp message in which the advocate had “commented negatively about him”.
Teffo, who states under oath that he is a practising advocate despite having been disbarred, told police that the conversation escalated during the call.
In his statement, Teffo alleges that Mkhwanazi told him he would regret sending the message and would remember the exchange “when something bad happens”.
The WhatsApp message itself, according to Teffo, referred to several senior police officers, including National Police Commissioner Gen Fannie Masemola, in relation to what he described as a corruption case involving bullet-proof vests.
Teffo told police that during the call, he asked Mkhwanazi to read the message back to him or send him a copy so that he could confirm it had come from his phone. According to his statement, Mkhwanazi declined the request.
“I asked him why he was the only one deemed fit to call me while others did not bother to call me,” Teffo told police.
He further alleged that Mkhwanazi accused him of supporting a faction aligned with police minister Senzo Mchunu. “Lt-Gen Mkhwanazi said that I am supporting the faction of minister Senzo Mchunu, and he will deal with me,” Teffo said in the statement.
Teffo claims he then asked Mkhwanazi whether he was threatening him with violence. “I told him that he dares me, and I will also deal with him because he is a small boy.
“He then said he was not done with me, and one day I would remember this day when something bad happened to me.”
Teffo also alleges that Mkhwanazi told him he was “no longer an advocate” and that he was “not surprised why”.
In the statement, Teffo said he took the alleged threats “very seriously”.
“I strongly believe that Lt-Gen Mkhwanazi has the capabilities and capacity to execute the threats he was making against me,” he said.
He added that he wanted “further investigation and prosecution in this matter”.
Police documents indicate that the case is expected to be transferred to the Gauteng office of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate because the allegations involve a senior police officer. “The alleged crime was committed by a police general against a civilian,” the police note in the investigation diary reads.
The police later contacted Teffo after discovering that he had left the station without signing his statement.
According to the diary entry, Teffo told officers he had already boarded the Gautrain to Pretoria and would return the following day to sign the affidavit, which he did.
