KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi on Wednesday accused DA MP Dianne Kohler Barnard of compromising a covert counterintelligence operation and called for journalists to be imprisoned for reporting on classified intelligence matters.
Appearing before the ad hoc committee investigating allegations of political interference and corruption in the criminal justice system, Mkhwanazi said the lives of operatives in Gauteng had been placed in danger after photographs of a police safe house were circulated publicly.
“The members who are working in Gauteng can’t go home,” Mkhwanazi told MPs. “If they go home, they go with the entire delegation of police officers protecting them. So their life is disrupted — and their families. I don’t think they are protected either.”
He said the breach had exposed not only the location of the safe house but also the vehicles used by operatives and potentially their identities.
He named Kohler Barnard as responsible for circulating the images, saying she had included them in a media statement and parliamentary question.
“They got that information from members within intelligence who are against the work that the team is doing, and they took it out there to the media,” he said. “That compromised the operations.”
Pressed by DA MP Lisa-Maré Schickerling to substantiate the claim, Mkhwanazi said he did not know who took the photographs but insisted Kohler-Barnard had participated in their circulation.
“Definitely, that’s a criminal offence,” he said. “I do hope that the authorities that are responsible for it are going to assist us in making sure such is investigated.”
He called for a full investigation by the State Security Agency into what he described as co-ordinated leaks involving rogue intelligence operatives, journalists and MPs.
“I call for an investigation by State Security on these leakages of information to the media,” he said, naming News24, Sunday Times and City Press as outlets that had published sensitive material.
He said the inspector-general of intelligence’s report on crime intelligence division property purchases — which News24 reported on — was classified and should not have been disclosed.
‘Chilling attack’
Mkhwanazi’s remarks prompted a sharp response from the SA National Editors’ Forum (Sanef), which issued a statement condemning what it called “a chilling attack on the constitutional rights to a free press”.
Sanef said Mkhwanazi had “deviated from his witness statement” and called for counterintelligence investigations into journalists, adding that he had proposed “heavy penalties” and imprisonment for reporters who err in their coverage. “They must sit in Pollsmoor for a while,” Mkhwanazi said during the hearing.
Sanef urged police minister Firoz Cachalia and national police commissioner Fannie Masemola to publicly condemn the remarks.
“These threats against journalists and their sources, and any moves to investigate the media, are intimidation tactics to protect the allegedly corrupt,” the forum said. “Crime Intelligence is not above the law.”
MK party MP Thulani Shongwe asked Mkhwanazi whether publishing safe house photographs constituted a criminal offence. Mkhwanazi replied that it did but acknowledged he had no evidence Kohler Barnard had taken the photos herself. “I know that she participated in the circulation,” he said.
Judicial scrutiny
EFF leader Julius Malema challenged Mkhwanazi’s call for judicial scrutiny, warning that covert operations targeting judges could undermine democracy.
Mkhwanazi said if he could address the committee in camera, “you will hear things that might shock you” about judges and repeated that the political killings task team (PKTT) had lodged complaints against presiding officers.
He said some magistrates had issued rulings that obstructed investigations and that the committee should consider referrals to the Judicial Service Commission.
In a separate exchange, Mkhwanazi said former prosecutor Glynnis Breytenbach had complied with an instruction to halt the prosecution of former crime intelligence head Richard Mdluli. “She has to come and explain to the committee why,” he said.
He also alleged that some of the names linked to properties rented by the crime intelligence unit “could even be in the very hall where MPs are currently sitting”.
The evening session exposed further political entanglements, as MPs pressed Mkhwanazi on procurement irregularities, strategic disclosures and executive interference.
IFP MP Albert Mncwango referenced police minister Senzo Mchunu’s letter declaring the PKTT redundant. Mkhwanazi replied that Mchunu had not consulted KwaZulu-Natal and lacked insight into over 30% of SAPS operations.
Under questioning by PA MP Ashley Sauls, Mkhwanazi read into record WhatsApp messages allegedly sent by Lt‑Gen Shadrack Sibiya to a deputy minister, claiming R13m in spyware was procured from China on former police minister Bheki Cele’s instruction, without sign-off. Sauls asked whether Mchunu was corrupt, to which Mkhwanazi replied: “I wouldn’t say corrupt, per se,” but accused him of failing to protect SAPS.
FF Plus MP Wouter Wessels asked whether the rot was worse than a decade ago. Mkhwanazi said it was, shifting from political influence to criminal capture. He confirmed Cele had asked him to persuade a commander to resign and join him in Gauteng, and said Cele’s continued influence stemmed from family ties within SAPS.
ActionSA MP Dereleen James asked about political affiliations. Mkhwanazi named ANC-linked figures including Cedric Nkabinde and Brown Mogotsi, and warned that “the country has been captured by criminals who are using politicians”.
He declined to confirm whether MPs Kohler Barnard or Fadiel Adams were part of a criminal syndicate, stating the matter formed part of a counterintelligence operation.
Update: October 8 2025
This story has more information from the hearing.
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