Parliament's Police Portfolio Committee Chairperson Ian Cameron wants his committee and the Justice and Constitutional Development Portfolio Committee to discuss the dispute between the SAPS and IDAC.
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The Portfolio Committee on Police is seeking a meeting with its Justice and Constitutional Development Portfolio Committee counterpart to discuss a public drama that unfolded between law enforcement agencies at the Brooklyn police station in Pretoria last week.
The drama played itself out in public when Crime Intelligence head Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo and the entity’s Intelligence Analysis and Co-ordination head Major-General Nosipho Madondo presented themselves at the police station to be arrested by the National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC).
However, the two waited for the whole day at the police station without IDAC officers showing up to effect the arrest warrants.
NPA spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago later issued a press statement, saying that IDAC postponed the arrests, as Khumalo and Madondo were part of a police team preparing to deal with March and March protests scheduled for June 30.
Kganyago said the two would be served with another warrants to submit themselves for arrest after completing their protest assignment.
This event depicted division within the country’s security cluster, and Organised Crime Task Team national head Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, the KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner, described it as internal security cluster turmoil and war.
Mkhwanazi went to the police station as he claimed to have received information that IDAC also wanted to arrest him.
Justice and Constitutional Development Portfolio Committee Chairperson Xola Nqola had on July 21 told the media that his committee wanted the NPA to explain the cause of the dispute.
Police Portfolio Committee Chairperson Ian Cameron issued a statement on Wednesday, saying he would engage with Nqola’s committee.
He said both committees are jointly seeking clarity on the broader concerns raised by the parties involved in the fight.
He said Parliament should not take sides between IDAC and SAPS, as both institutions must be allowed to execute their mandates independently, lawfully, and without fear, favour, or political pressure.
“The central concern is whether the rule of law is being protected, or whether senior law enforcement officials are publicly undermining the credibility of the very institutions entrusted with upholding it,” read the statement.
Cameron expressed concern about IDAC’s decision to suspend Khumalo and Madondo’s arrests, saying that it was weakening the rule of law and eroding public confidence in the criminal justice system.
“The considerations identified by IDAC as reasons for suspending the warrants appear, on the surface, implausible and create a perception of undue interference,” said Cameron.
He suspected that the suspension of the arrests was due to interference, and is calling for IDAC to clarify who intervened in the process and on what basis such intervention occurred.
“This clarity is necessary to safeguard the integrity of the process, uphold public confidence in the criminal justice system, and dispel any perception of political interference
“If arrest warrants were lawfully obtained and subsequently not executed, the public deserves a clear answer: who instructed IDAC not to proceed with the arrests, and on what lawful basis was that decision made?”
Cameron believed that anyone who has a case to answer must be charged and prosecuted accordingly, saying that prolonging it creates uncertainty or suspicion, as everyone is equal before the law, irrespective of their professional positions.
“It is, therefore, important that any individual who has a case to answer be subjected to the judicial process without humiliation, favouritism, or arbitrary interventions.”
Cameron said he still does not have a date for the meeting with the Justice and Constitutional Development Portfolio Committee, as this would depend on Parliament’s next quarter's programmes.
He said his committee had yet to meet and decide whether to call SAPS management to a meeting to get its side of the story on the conflict with IDAC.
“I think it is a good idea (to meet the SAPS) and I will propose it and essentially the committee must decide.”
Cameron said he initially thought meeting the SAPS alone would not produce an objective view of the cause of the conflict.
“At the moment, a lot of things are happening with the June 30 (March and March protest), making it quite frustrating because police bosses are focused on that at the moment.”
Cameron also called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to ensure Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi and Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia exercise disciplined leadership over their institutions.
He said that for the two ministers to intervene in the dispute does not imply political interference in investigations or prosecutions.
“Rather, it requires ensuring that public disputes between senior law enforcement officials are effectively managed, that institutional credibility is protected and that any politically motivated instruction or interference is exposed,” Cameron said.
Nqola was not available to answer questions on Friday, as he was in a meeting to nominate a ward candidate for the upcoming local government elections.
According to a statement issued by the NPA on August 13, 2025, Khumalo, Madondo, and five other Crime Intelligence officers were last year charged with fraud and corruption relating to the appointment of an unqualified civilian in a senior post within the SAPS and were released on bail.