Criminal cartels hire cops as killers, Madlanga Commission hears

Crime Intelligence boss Dumisani Khumalo resumed his testimony before the commission on Tuesday, revealing a disturbing pattern where syndicates allegedly recruit insiders within the South African Police Service (SAPS) and across the criminal justice system to execute hits, suppress investigations, and leak state intelligence.

"Cartels are able to protect their interests by recruiting various members of SAPS and other parts of the criminal justice system,” Khumalo testified.

He said investigations have shown that several of these organised groups, including the so-called 'Big Five' cartel, are linked to a series of assassinations and violent turf wars across Gauteng and other provinces.

Their networks, Khumalo explained, are built on loyalty bought through money and power, and often involve police officers who are active in service.

Khumalo revealed that notorious underworld figure Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala commands a formidable private security detail made up of highly trained ex-police personnel.

"Matlala has more than twenty private protectors, all former members of the Special Task Force,” he said, adding that this militarised security structure mirrors state tactical capabilities.

Khumalo said this degree of sophistication, with cartels employing former tactical officers and using official policing techniques, rendered traditional crime-fighting methods ineffective.

He told the commission that it was this realisation that prompted the creation of a dedicated counterintelligence project within Crime Intelligence to infiltrate, expose, and dismantle cartel-linked networks inside SAPS.

The project, established in Gauteng, has since unearthed evidence showing how criminal syndicates have managed to penetrate operational, intelligence, and administrative structures within the police.

Some officers have allegedly leaked information about planned takedowns or investigations to protect their criminal paymasters.

"We discovered that in many operations, suspects knew of our plans before we moved,” Khumalo said. “That meant the leaks were coming from inside.”

The testimony also revealed that criminal cartels have gone as far as embedding themselves in internal SAPS task teams and provincial command structures, influencing which investigations are prioritised or suppressed.

Khumalo described this as "a shadow system within the police”, where certain officers act as fixers or conduits for cartels seeking protection from prosecution.

The Big Five and other underworld networks, he added, fund these arrangements through cash bribes, cars, and business interests, rewarding compromised officers for providing sensitive intelligence, including surveillance data and case dockets.

"We are not dealing with street-level criminals,” Khumalo said. 

“We are fighting syndicates with resources, technology, and access to our operational systems.”

He further warned that some cartels have even recruited prosecutors and court officials, ensuring that certain suspects are granted bail or that evidence disappears before cases reach trial.

The revelations highlight the scale of institutional decay and raise fresh questions about accountability within SAPS.

 Khumalo said only a multi-agency, intelligence-driven approach, supported by independent oversight, could effectively combat this level of infiltration.

"Traditional policing is not equipped to fight this kind of organised crime,” he said. “These cartels operate like paramilitary organisations with deep intelligence capacity.”

The Madlanga Commission, chaired by retired Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, continues to hear evidence into allegations that organised criminal cartels have infiltrated both the South African Police Services and  the State Security Agency, compromising national security in the process.

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