DURBAN - After being in formal attire for his testimony at the Madlanga Commission and Parliament, KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi has traded his suit for his police uniform.
He’s back doing what he knows best: On the ground, leading operations.
Mkhwanazi has been in the spotlight since his explosive July 2025 media briefing, in which he blew the lid off political interference within the criminal justice system.
His revelations prompted the establishment of the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
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The inquiry is running parallel with the Ad Hoc Committee in parliament, also probing the allegations.
After spending days in the hot seat before the commission and the committee, eNCA spoke to the commissioner, who was at a crime scene in Durban after a deadly shootout at a Waterfall complex.
Two suspected armed robbers were killed during an early Tuesday morning takedown.
“It feels good to wear boots again,” Mkhwanazi told eNCA.
“I went to Parliament and did my thing. Now I am in the field, and I have my boots on. Mine is to fight crime. What they do in Parliament is they wear suits and do their thing, I am here and mine is to fight crime,” he added.
Mkhwanazi is not dismissing the many problems within the crime intelligence department, affirming that the Waterfall shootout is an example of men and women in blue working to fight against crime.
The incident is an example of an intelligence-led operation.
“The problem is at the head office of Crime Intelligence. This is not the head office, this is the ground,” he says.
According to the commissioner, the suspects from Waterfall are linked to a string of cash-in-transit (CIT) heists as well as murders.
“This is a notorious gang in the area. They kill without care, even children,” Mkhwanazi says.
He further details how one of the armed men was in custody for two years, but he had arranged for the murder of witnesses, including a planned attack on an investigating officer.
“The murder of all the witnesses led to that case being withdrawn in court. This is a typical modus operandi he employed,” he explained.