---
title: "Watch – Inside Mkhwanazi’s claims: South Africa held hostage by criminal cartel"
description: "On 6 July 2025, KwaZulu-Natal’s Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi alleged that a criminal syndicate involving cops, prison staff, judges, and politicians is holding South Africa hostage. Daily Maverick's Caryn Dolley explains."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "VIDEO"
author: "Caryn Dolley"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/caryn-dolley/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-07-18-watch-inside-mkhwanazis-claims-south-africa-held-hostage-by-criminal-cartel/"
published: "2025-07-18T19:19:36"
updated: "2025-07-18T19:19:39"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 116
---

# Watch – Inside Mkhwanazi’s claims: South Africa held hostage by criminal cartel

> On 6 July 2025, KwaZulu-Natal’s Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi alleged that a criminal syndicate involving cops, prison staff, judges, and politicians is holding South Africa hostage. Daily Maverick's Caryn Dolley explains.

By Caryn Dolley · Published 18 July 2025, 21:19 SAST · Updated 18 July 2025, 21:19 SAST

## Key points
- Caryn Dolley has spent nearly two decades peeling back the layers of South Africa's organized crime scene, bravely exposing the sinister tango between gangsters, rogue politicians, and corrupt state agents, all while dodging threats like a pro.
- Caryn Dolley has nearly 20 years of experience investigating organized crime in South Africa.
- Her work reveals the intersection of crime, politics, and state corruption in the country.
- Dolley faces personal safety threats but remains dedicated to exposing the truth.
- Her reporting highlights South Africa's role in the global criminal landscape and the infiltration of gangs into private security.

## Content

[YouTube video: "YouTube video"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHGQNB8rB_4)

Reporting by: Caryn Dolley
Produced by: Emilie Gambade
Filmed by: Bernard Kotze
Edited by: Rufaro Chiswo
Sub-edited by: Ian Wolstenholme

Caryn Dolley has covered organised crime in South Africa for nearly two decades, exposing how the country fits into the global criminal landscape, how gangsters appear to have infiltrated aspects of private security, and how politics, rogue intelligence, and state corruption are infused in these noxious arenas. Despite threats to her safety, she remains committed to uncovering the truth and bringing it to the public.

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