Mkhwanazi makes U-turn: Apologises to Bheki Cele after botched corruption claim

Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi

Cape Town – KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi has retracted allegations he made against former police minister Bheki Cele, in which he accused Cele of receiving money from controversial businessman Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala.

Mkhwanazi had told parliament’s ad hoc committee investigating corruption in the criminal justice system that Cele sent a bank account number linked to another person, into which Matlala allegedly deposited money.

“This is not just about phone calls. It’s about money. It’s criminal,” said Mkhwanazi at the time.

“The communication dates back to 2024. We are tracking where the money went after the deposit—whether it returned to Cele or reached someone else.”

However, during Thursday’s committee sitting, evidence leader Norman Arendse said Mkhwanazi had since sent a message withdrawing his claim, admitting that the investigative team “got the bank account number wrong” and apologising to Cele for the error.

“We received a text message from Mkhwanazi in which he says this allegation is withdrawn,” Arendse said.

“The team that was working on the analysis got the bank account number wrong, and it’s not a reference to you. The allegation is withdrawn with apologies from Mkhwanazi for any inconvenience or hurt caused.”

Members of Parliament, including the EFF’s Julius Malema, and ANC MPs Khusela Sangoni and Mdumiseni Ntuli, insisted that Mkhwanazi must return to parliament to retract his statement under oath and issue a public apology, just as he made the allegations publicly.

DA MP Glynnis Breytenbach also called for Mkhwanazi to appear before the committee to explain his decision, with MPs stressing that an SMS withdrawal was insufficient for such a serious accusation.

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