Alleged crime intelligence agent Brown Mogotsi has told a parliamentary committee that suspects linked to KwaZulu-Natal’s police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi are routinely killed before they can face trial.
Image: Supplied/Parliament
North West businessman and alleged crime intelligence agent Brown Mogotsi has claimed that all suspects of KwaZulu-Natal provincial commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi are killed and denied a fair trial.
Mogotsi appeared in person before the ad hoc committee after initially requesting to testify virtually, pointing to security concerns.
He had previously asked Parliament to cover travel and accommodation costs for his personal security team as a condition of his appearance.
The committee is investigating allegations of corruption in the criminal justice system, following claims made by Mkhwanazi during an explosive media briefing in July last year about alleged rot in the justice system, corruption, and shielding of criminal networks.
Advocate Maria Mokhaoetsi is leading the evidence.
Mogotsi told the committee he had learned that all his suspects do not survive encounters with the police and are effectively denied the right to a fair trial.
“It’s not what I learned. Everyone knows what happened in KZN,” he said.
“Every time people resist the police, they never come back alive. Every time. And I’m not saying they should shoot the police.”
“But in those shootings, you never find one police officer injured in the hand or something. Every time, the suspect doesn’t get a fair trial to appeal in court. That’s my point.”
Mkhwanazi, widely praised for his no-nonsense approach to policing, has long been regarded as a law enforcer with an unflinching stance on corruption.
He joined the South African Police Service (SAPS) as a student constable in 1993 and rose through the ranks to Lieutenant General in 2011.
Before his appointment as acting provincial commissioner for KZN, he held several senior positions, including head of the Special Task Force, Divisional Commissioner of Human Resource Development, and acting national commissioner of police.
He holds a B-Tech degree in Policing and a National Diploma in Police Administration.
North West businessman Brown Mogotsi claims KwaZulu-Natal suspects are killed before they can face trial.
Image: Supplied/Parliament
Mokhaoetsi said Mogotsi’s remarks suggested serious allegations.
“I think one of the reasons crime cannot decrease in many instances, even where there is the death penalty, is because people go to court, have a fair trial, are found guilty, convicted, and sentenced,” she said.
Mogotsi clarified that he was advocating for suspects to be arrested and processed through the courts, not for them to engage in violence.
“And you cannot have a democracy where suspects are not given a chance. In the Western Cape, Northern Cape, and other places, suspects get arrested. But in these cases, they don’t get a chance.”
“They never shoot back. I’m not saying they should, but there’s never evidence to identify the criminals or the people behind them because they are killed before you can trace them.”
Mokhaoetsi then questioned Mogotsi about references he made involving the late former police minister, Nathi Mthethwa, who died under suspicious circumstances.
Mogotsi clarified, “Minister Mthethwa was not a suspect in any of these cases.”
“My remarks about suspicious circumstances relate to other incidents, for example in Cape Town, where it’s impossible to open a window and fall from it. I was merely expressing my personal view - it has nothing to do with the KZN cases.”
Mthethwa, South Africa’s former ambassador to France, died on September 30, 2025 after falling from the 22nd floor of the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Paris.
His sudden death prompted an investigation by French authorities.
He was buried on October 12, 2025 at the Siyabonga Sangweni Sport Complex in KwaMbonambi, KwaZulu-Natal, during a Special Official Funeral, Category 2.
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