Former Police Minister Bheki Cele at the Ad Hoc Committee probing claims of alleged claims made by Lieutenant General Mkhwanazi on interference in the justice system. (Photo : Phando Jikelo / RSA Parliament) 
What happened in the ad hoc committee?
This week, an array of details – some of national importance and others with sheer intrigue value – have emerged through the parliamentary committee investigating accusations of criminals having infiltrated law enforcement.
Two witnesses testified at the ad hoc committee – sidelined police minister Senzo Mchunu, and his predecessor Bheki Cele.
A few critical issues cropped up.
An explosive admission by Cele was made late on Thursday, 23 October, while the DA’s Ian Cameron was questioning him.
While responding to those questions, Cele referenced Anele “Nellie” Tembe. She was the fiancée of rapper Kiernan Forbes, better known as AKA.
Tembe died after apparently falling from the 10th floor of a Cape Town hotel in 2021.
About two years later, Forbes was murdered in a shooting in Durban.
Read more: Police tight-lipped on rapper AKA murder probe as father reveals plans for ‘dignified send-off’
On Thursday evening Cele told Parliament’s ad hoc committee: “I’m sure we’ll hear, one day, there is an inquest in the death of Moses Tembe’s daughter [Anele]…
“Police did the investigation and they believed that [his] daughter was murdered.”
Cele said the officers had “time and again” gone to a prosecutor to get the case moving along.
He said he would support a private prosecution in the matter.
Why it matters
This testimony is important because after Tembe died, questions surfaced about what had truly happened to her – and whether Forbes had shoved her off the balcony.
The National Prosecuting Authority previously declined to prosecute the case, which Cele now suggests there is more to.
If, as he said, Tembe was murdered, this would suggest Forbes played a role in it.
Another key allegation that Cele made in Parliament this week: that he met Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala, now accused of attempted murder and money laundering, at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Durban in December 2025.
Cele said he frequently ate breakfast there. (A detail we heard about Cele’s personal life is that he never sends messages from his cellphone, not even to his wife.)
At the hotel meeting, Matlala allegedly told Cele that he had been approached to fund Mchunu’s campaign to become ANC president or deputy president.
Read more: Cele’s allegations — the murder and the Mchunu project for ANC presidency
(Mkhwanazi also previously alleged that Matlala was financially backing Mchunu’s political aspirations.)
For his part, Mchunu in Parliament this week flat-out denied knowing or ever meeting Matlala.
Why it matters
The overlaps between politics and suspected criminality is what the ad hoc committee is investigating. There have long been allegations that ANC leadership bids are funded by corrupt tenders, and Cele’s allegations could be damaging to both Mchunu and the ANC more generally.
What happened at the Madlanga Commission?
This week, the Madlanga Commission heard from Witnesses A and B, both members of SAPS’ Gauteng Organised Crime Unit, and Witness C, a member of the political killings task team.
The anonymous witnesses testified in camera due to fears for their safety.
They provided further details on Mkhwanazi’s claim that top cops were shielding alleged criminals from investigation.
The name of Major General Richard Shibiri, head of organised crime, surfaced in connection with alleged bribe offers linked to the disappearance of the docket in the murder of engineer Armand Swart in April 2024.
Read more: Envelopes and missing evidence — Madlanga Commission hears allegations of murder cover-up
Swart was murdered after the company he worked for blew the whistle on a Transnet tender, linked to Katiso “KT” Molefe, who was alleged by Mkhwanazi to be a member of the “Big Five” cartel.
Three suspects were arrested on the day of Swart’s murder, including Johannesburg Central police officer Michael Tau.
Investigating officers came under immediate pressure from Shibiri and other SAPS units in what they alleged was an attempt to thwart the investigation into Swart’s murder and its ties to Molefe.
Members of the Cold Case Unit, who had been seeking key documents related to Swart’s killing, were allegedly approached with offers to make the file vanish.
The commission also heard evidence that Shibiri had been communicating with Matlala via WhatsApp.
Witness C also accused Acting Sedibeng District Commissioner Brigadier Mbangwa Nkhwashu of visiting Molefe in Kgosi Mampuru Prison after official visiting hours, identifying himself as Molefe’s relative and claiming he was there to deliver clothing and food.
This incident, the witness testified, exemplified an apparent attempt to interfere with the investigation, suggesting possible influence or collusion at senior levels within SAPS.
Read more: Shadrack Sibiya, Hawks linked to alleged interference in KT Molefe’s arrest
Why it matters
The allegations of police interference underscore how high-profile figures tied to organised crime and cartel networks allegedly infiltrated SAPS, working to derail investigations and protect those implicated.
Witness A also testified that Molefe allegedly paid a bribe of R2.5-million to get released on bail.
Why it matters
While little evidence has been heard on the matter, the allegations that Molefe paid a bribe to secure bail tie into Mkhwanazi’s claim that some members of the judiciary are captured.
Molefe has been charged with Swart’s murder, as well as the murder of Oupa Sefoka, better known as DJ Sumbody, and is allegedly linked to other murders.
He was granted R400,000 bail in the Johannesburg High Court on 10 October 2025.
Witness A could not confirm whether the bribe allegedly went to the judge or prosecutor, but the presiding judge, acting Gauteng Judge President Aubrey Ledwaba, has rejected the claims. DM