South Africans have long suspected corruption and political interference were at work in the police force but in the past few months allegations appearing to confirm this have been aired in two public inquiries.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is currently digesting the contents of an interim report from a commission he established to investigate illegality within the police.
It was set up after senior police officer Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi alleged in July that organised crime groups had infiltrated the government.
His dramatic intervention led to Police Minister Senzo Mchunu being put on special leave.
Lt-Gen Mkhwanazi, who heads up the police in KwaZulu-Natal province, claimed that Mchunu had ties to crime kingpins and this was why he shut down an elite unit investigating political murders.
