Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi took over the intelligence post from Richard Mdluli. Photo: Sizwe Ndingane Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi took over the intelligence post from Richard Mdluli. Photo: Sizwe Ndingane
Durban - Top cop Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi is sitting at police headquarters twiddling his thumbs with no real work to do – and earning a salary of a cool R1.2 million a year.
Four months after the former acting national police commissioner was shuffled aside in favour of new police boss General Riah Phiyega, Mkhwanazi allegedly spends more hours at home than in the office.
Senior police officers at the headquarters, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said: “He does duties as and when assigned by Phiyega, because he does not have a portfolio. Sometimes he spends only one hour at work and then leaves.”
At the time he was reassigned, Mkhwanazi had been acting as both commissioner and head of crime intelligence. He took over the intelligence post after Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa moved Richard Mdluli to another unit, pending the outcome of an investigation into a plot to oust him.
Mdluli was subsequently suspended by Mkhwanazi.
Another senior officer said: “It must be very frustrating for such an active guy to be parked in an empty office. He went from two very powerful positions to zilch. You must remember that even before he acted as police commissioner he was very active in his job at the Special Task Force.”
Some said the last “serious job” he did was to evaluate the performance of provincial police commissioners last month. According to senior officers, Mkhwanazi still attends police managerial meetings, but beyond meetings he has to wait for assignments from Phiyega.
Last week Mkhwanazi refused to comment, referring questions to the police spokeswoman, Phuti Setati, who said: “The matters raised are internal organisational affairs.”
Mkhwanazi was very vocal during his tenure, even speaking out against his former boss, Mthethwa – once telling members of Parliament that he had been instructed by “powers beyond us” to “release some case dockets to the inspector-general for Intelligence”, suggesting illegal political interference in investigative decisions.
He was answering an unrelated question about poor conviction rates.
But it is not the first time that a senior police officer has sat in an empty office without a job to do, despite drawing a full salary from the police.
In 2010/2011, former Gauteng provincial head of crime intelligence Joey Mabasa allegedly stayed in office for over a year without work to do.
Mabasa was reportedly sitting in an empty office while Major-General Rodney Toka was doing his job as the head of Gauteng crime intelligence.
Mabasa was given an early retirement package during an ongoing investigation into his alleged role in the underworld.
Solly Lazarus, the suspended crime intelligence financial head, allegedly sat in an empty office after returning from his first suspension in February.
“For the months he spent at work prior to his re-suspension, he never sat in his office nor touched the secret service account,” a police source told Weekend Argus sister title the Sunday Independent earlier this year.
Lazarus’s office was occupied by Brigadier Obed Nemutanzhela, the section head of financial and administration services, who stood in for him during the suspension.
At the time, Nemutanzhela referred all questions to the police spokesman, who declined to comment.
Sunday Tribune