South Africa's National Crime Intelligence head, Dumisani Khumalo, testified that nearly all police officers in Gauteng are working for a criminal cartel known as the Big Five. He made these claims during a parliamentary ad hoc committee hearing on January 15, 2026, highlighting infiltration in law enforcement, politics, and private security. Khumalo also accused senior officers of interference and forcing reports on task team disbandments.
On January 15, 2026, Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo, head of South Africa's National Crime Intelligence, appeared before Parliament's ad hoc committee investigating the Big Five cartel's alleged infiltration of the criminal justice system. Khumalo alleged that a threat assessment revealed 'almost the whole of SAPS in Gauteng is working for the cartel,' with officers providing protection to syndicate members for a fee.
He detailed two high-level operations on December 6, 2024, targeting suspected Big Five members Katiso 'KT' Molefe, facing murder charges, and Vusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala, accused of attempted murder. These involved support from the KwaZulu-Natal Political Killings Task Team (PKTT), which Khumalo managed. Interference came from Major General Richard Shibiri, head of the National Organised Crime Unit under suspended Lieutenant-General Shadrack Sibiya, who denied corruption allegations.
Khumalo testified that sidelined Police Minister Senzo Mchunu was mentioned in both operations: Molefe was described as Mchunu's friend, and Matlala was reportedly planning to meet him. Matlala, former director of a security company with a now-cancelled R360-million police contract, was alleged to fund Mchunu's political aspirations, a claim Mchunu denied.
The scandal originated in July 2025 when KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi first raised cartel concerns. Khumalo emphasized syndicates' survival through proximity to politicians, law enforcement, and business leaders, quoting: 'Key to any syndicate to survive is the proximity – close proximity and relationships – with politicians, law enforcement officers and business leaders.' Cartel members must be career criminals with multiple companies, dual citizenship, and firearm access via security firms.
Khumalo revealed Sibiya forced him to compile a report on disbanding the PKTT, including stakeholder feedback like from the National Prosecuting Authority, shocking him as he opposed the move. Mchunu's end-2024 directive to disband the PKTT was seen as a 'mistaken identity' by cartel suspects. Khumalo, arrested in June 2025 on irregular appointment charges but reinstated later, alleged indirect ties between Mchunu and the cartel, with Mchunu's comrade Brown Mogtosi as a 'cheerleader.' The committee will continue questioning on January 16, 2026.
