‘IT WAS THE WORST EVER’

FORMER Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa, who died in Paris on Tuesday, was expected to appear before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry to address allegations of political interference.

Mthethwa, a former Police and Sports, Arts and Culture Minister, was found dead at the Hyatt Hotel in Porte Maillot.

French authorities are investigating the circumstances of his death after he allegedly plunged from his 22nd-floor hotel room.

His wife saw him for the last time on Monday afternoon when he was supposed to go to a cocktail event, and then received a message in the evening “in which he apologised to her and expressed his intention to end his life” according to prosecutor Laure Beccuau.

Beccuau added in a statement: “Initial investigations suggest that this could have been a deliberate act, without the intervention of a third party.”

Although the commission had not yet confirmed whether Mthethwa was on the list of those expected to give testimony, he was expected to be given a right of reply after he was mentioned in testimony by KwaZulu-Natal provincial Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi. 

The commission is currently hearing testimony about the interference of senior government officials and politicians into police work.

Mkhwanazi told the commission that during his tenure as an acting national Police Commissioner in 2011, Mthethwa in his capacity as a Police Minister attempted to block the prosecution of the then police Crime Intelligence head Lieutenant-General Richard Mdluli. 

Mdluli was accused of abuse of state resources and corruption involving the Crime Intelligence Unit’s slush funds. 

Mkhwanazi explained: “If you talk about political interference, that was the worst that I ever experienced. 

“At that time, I came from the specialised operations; the only thing I know is to chase criminals. 

“I am promoted to become the acting National Commissioner, and I am confronted with this in front of me, and I say, but this is not what I signed up for when I joined the police. This can’t be right.” 

He told the inquiry that he responded to Mthethwa and told him he was not going to do what he wanted him to do and demanded that Mthethwa write down the instruction.

Mkhwanazi said that Mthethwa then informed the late former Inspector-General of Intelligence, Advocate Faith Radebe, to provide Mkhwanazi with written instructions to stop the investigation into Mdluli. This did not happen and Mdluli was suspended and charged.