Former IPID head Robert McBride testified on January 20, 2026, before Parliament's ad hoc committee, accusing KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi of attempting to undermine an investigation into former acting national commissioner Khomotso Phahlane. McBride described Mkhwanazi and Phahlane as close associates and highlighted inconsistencies in Mkhwanazi's involvement in the 2020 murder of IPID investigator Mandla Mahlangu. The testimony raises questions about internal rifts in South Africa's law enforcement amid broader allegations of cartel infiltration.
Robert McBride, now heading the State Security Agency’s Foreign Branch, appeared before Parliament's ad hoc committee in Cape Town on January 20, 2026, to address allegations stemming from KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi's July 2025 claims of drug cartel infiltration in South Africa's criminal justice system, politics, and private security.
McBride directly accused Mkhwanazi of trying to disrupt an IPID investigation into Khomotso Phahlane, his former acting national boss, whom Phahlane faces corruption charges. Reading from his submitted statement, McBride said: “From my time at Ipid, I am aware of incidents [involving] General Mkhwanazi having played an undue and prosecutable role in trying to disrupt and scuttle the Ipid’s investigation into Phahlane.” He emphasized that Mkhwanazi and Phahlane are “very close.”
The testimony also touched on the 2020 murder of IPID investigator Mandla Mahlangu, who was probing Phahlane and had made incriminating statements. McBride noted that Mahlangu and Mkhwanazi were friends, and Mkhwanazi was the first on the scene after Mahlangu's earlier shooting and following his murder, yet absent from the funeral. “For me, it’s inconsistent and it needs to be looked at,” McBride stated. Khumbulani Sithole was convicted of the murder in 2023, with reports alleging it was ordered by police due to Mahlangu's investigations into Phahlane and a jobs-for-favours scheme.
McBride pushed back against Phahlane's recent claims of a smear campaign involving himself and investigator Paul O’Sullivan, asserting Phahlane faces multiple criminal cases set for trial in October and November, despite years of delays. “He’s got cases to answer for, but he makes a statement, ‘Bring it on.’ But he, for the last seven years, he’s tried every trick in the book not to go to trial,” McBride said. He described O’Sullivan as eccentric but a source of reliable whistleblower information from disgruntled SAPS members.
McBride also criticized former IPID investigator Cedrick Nkabinde, now chief of staff to police minister Senzo Mchunu, for shifting from probing Phahlane to portraying him as targeted, calling it a “180 degrees” turn and labeling Nkabinde greedy.
During McBride's IPID tenure from 2014 to 2019, he tackled systemic police corruption, leading to trials for 8-13 generals and 10 brigadiers. He alleged Crime Intelligence infiltration at IPID, including by Brigadier Tlou Kgomo, and premature case closures. The committee noted McBride's relaxed demeanor, with some MPs finding him indifferent.
This testimony underscores deep divisions among senior law enforcement figures, complicating probes into alleged corruption and infiltration.
