Overview

• KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi asked Parliament to order a counterintelligence investigation into the media during ad hoc committee hearings.
• He later pressed for prison terms and heavy penalties for reporters he says erred in their work, saying they should “sit in Pollsmoor for a while.”
• Mkhwanazi singled out journalists from the Sunday Times, City Press and News24 as targets for scrutiny.
• He argued that an inspector-general of intelligence report referenced by News24 is classified and insisted crime intelligence matters should be examined behind closed doors.
• Sanef condemned the calls as intimidation, urged Police Commissioner Gen Fannie Masemola and Minister Firoz Cachalia to denounce them, and warned that silence would erode democratic accountability.