WATCH: Here is how fame cost Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi his privacy

by Staff Bona

KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi says sudden public attention has come at a personal cost, with his privacy heavily compromised, as people now recognise him everywhere.

Speaking to eNCA at the 27th Interpol African Regional Conference in Cape Town, he downplayed personal threats and praised his team’s efforts in KZN, highlighting arrests, firearm recoveries, and successful prosecutions.

“The difficulty is that my privacy has been compromised because wherever I walk, people recognise me or want to greet me, which is not what I enjoy most,” Nhlanhla said.

“Other than that, everything remains the same. I’m proud of the men and women out there. Especially in KZN, daily they’re making arrests, recovering illegal firearms, and securing successful prosecutions through hard work,”

His rise to fame followed a July 2025 press briefing where he accused suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu of criminal links and interfering in police investigations.

These allegations led President Cyril Ramaphosa to suspend Senzo and launch multiple inquiries, including a parliamentary probe into criminal infiltration of the police.

X (formerly Twitter) users weighed in:

 

First published by African Insider

Compiled by Betha Madhomu

Also see: General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi blames deadbeats for rampant crime levels