KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) police commissioner General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi has been placed at the centre of a controversial shooting involving the province’s Cash-in-Transit (CIT) Task Team.
An Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) investigator told the Madlanga Commission that the province’s top cop was on the phone with a suspect during the incident and later summoned task-team members to his office.
Len John, Deputy Director for Investigations at IPID in KZN, was continuing his testimony before the Commission on Wednesday when he detailed an operation that he said raised questions about the conduct of the task team and the subsequent handling of its members.
Allegations police linked to hit squad
He testified about police linked to an alleged hit squad operating in the province.
“It is alleged that on 30 May 2024, members of the task team shot at a vehicle, a Toyota Fortuner to kill the driver. Fortunately the vehicle was an armour-proof vehicle. During the incident the driver telephonically contacted General (Nhlanhla) Mkhwanazi,” said John.
John further alleged that Mkhwanazi advised the suspect to drive to the Pavilion Shopping Centre.
According to John, the suspect arrived at the shopping centre, where his vehicle was inspected and photographed by members of the Local Criminal Record Centre (LCRC) before being towed to the police station.
John said members of the task team later arrived at the shopping centre and were summoned to Mkhwanazi’s office by Major General Vukani Mgobhozi, the Deputy Provincial Commissioner for Detectives in KZN.
He alleged that the members subsequently left the shopping centre without being processed as suspects implicated in the discharge of official firearms in an attempted-murder case.
The allegations came as John described what he said were recurring similarities in shootings involving the CIT Task Team, headed by Colonel Deena Govender.
Also Read: 149 deaths linked to KZN police task teams, IPID tells Madlanga Commission
Task team central to shootings involving CIT suspects
John said the task team was involved in the majority of shootings involving CIT suspects that IPID was investigating.
He said many of the operations took place between 23:00 and 03:00, with task-team members allegedly wearing civilian clothes and face masks.
John also questioned why information received during the day was allegedly acted on through night-time operations in rural KZN.
His evidence broadened into concerns over how police deal with suspected criminals hiding in hijacked properties.
“When they hijack the premises, they will keep the owners of the premises in the house, and they will inform the owners that you are not to phone anyone or inform anyone that they are on the premises.”
John alleged that police sometimes responded by shooting everyone found inside.
“When the police get wind that they are at that premises, the police go and they just shoot everybody. Even the owners of the house are shot. Because police indicate that they came under fire, and that is why they shot.”
“And we’ve seen in some cases, or in majority of the shootings, by the task team, they don’t have proper case numbers, where they were looking for the suspects. In some cases, they cannot even give you the names of the deceased that they shot,” he added.
John said IPID believed police were failing to properly investigate suspects before using lethal force.
“So with our investigation, we believe that the police are not doing proper investigations to arrest the suspects.”
- KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi was on the phone with a suspect during a shooting involving the province’s Cash-in-Transit Task Team on 30 May 2024.
- Mkhwanazi allegedly advised the suspect, whose armoured vehicle was shot at, to drive to the Pavilion Shopping Centre where the vehicle was inspected and towed to the police station.
- Task team members were summoned to Mkhwanazi’s office by Deputy Provincial Commissioner Major General Vukani Mgobhozi but left without being processed as suspects in an attempted-murder case.
- The CIT Task Team, headed by Colonel Deena Govender, was involved in most shootings involving CIT suspects, often operating at night wearing civilian clothes and face masks.
- IPID's Deputy Director Len John stated police sometimes shoot everyone inside hijacked premises without proper investigations or case numbers, citing claimed return fire to justify lethal force.
KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) police commissioner General
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Len John, Deputy Director for Investigations at IPID in KZN, was continuing his testimony before the Commission on Wednesday when he detailed an operation that he said raised questions about the conduct of the task team and the subsequent handling of its members.
He testified about police linked to an alleged hit squad operating in the province.
"It is alleged that on 30 May 2024, members of the task team shot at a vehicle, a Toyota Fortuner to kill the driver. Fortunately the vehicle was an armour-proof vehicle.
John further alleged that
John said members of the task team later arrived at the shopping centre and were summoned to
He alleged that the members subsequently left the shopping centre without being processed as suspects implicated in the discharge of official firearms in an attempted-murder case.
Also Read: 149 deaths linked to KZN police task teams, IPID tells
John said the task team was involved in the majority of shootings involving CIT suspects that IPID was investigating.
He said many of the operations took place between 23:00 and 03:00, with task-team members allegedly wearing civilian clothes and face masks.
John also questioned why information received during the day was allegedly acted on through night-time operations in rural KZN.
His evidence broadened into concerns over how police deal with suspected criminals hiding in hijacked properties.
"When they hijack the premises, they will keep the owners of the premises in the house, and they will inform the owners that you are not to phone anyone or inform anyone that they are on the premises."
John alleged that police sometimes responded by shooting everyone found inside.
"When the police get wind that they are at that premises, the police go and they just shoot everybody. Even the owners of the house are shot. Because police indicate that they came under fire, and that is why they shot."
"
John said IPID believed police were failing to properly investigate suspects before using lethal force.
"So with our investigation, we believe that the police are not doing proper investigations to arrest the suspects."
