The Madlanga Commission has asked suspended Mpumalanga police commissioner Lieutenant-General Semakaleng Daphney Manamela to provide sworn evidence to support her explosive corruption allegations.
Manamela launched a scathing attack last month, accusing colleagues and national police commissioner Fannie Masemola of presiding over a captured policing system.
Allegations
She alleged that politicians and business figures manipulate investigations, move dockets illegally, and bribe officers.
Manamela further claimed police in Mpumalanga interfere in probes into political killings, illegal mining, extortion, and human trafficking.
Evidence
The Madlanga Commission, which is probing allegations of criminality, political interference and corruption in the criminal justice system, has confirmed it has written to Manamela requesting a detailed sworn affidavit and supporting evidence for the claims made public last month.
Madlanga Commission spokesperson Jeremy Michaels said the commission has received several queries about Manamela.
“I can confirm that the Madlanga Commission has written to Lieutenant-General Semakaleng Daphney Manamela requesting that she provide the Commission with a detailed sworn affidavit and evidence in support of the allegations she made public on 19 April 2026.
“It is important to understand that the Commission considers all such allegations through the lens of its Terms of Reference, which specifically inform the mandate of our judicial inquiry into criminality, political interference and corruption in the criminal justice system,” Michaels said.
Hillary Gardee
Last week, lawyers for the family of Hillary Gardee, daughter of EFF deputy president Godrich Gardee, demanded that Manamela appear before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry and testify under oath
The Gardee family believes her testimony could expose why the investigation into Hillary’s murder stalled and whether powerful individuals shielded suspects.
In a letter to the Commission’s secretary, Godrich Gardee said the allegations confirm long‑held suspicions of interference and obstruction.
“The allegations now placed in the public domain materially affect both the criminal process and the pending civil litigation, including issues of state liability, negligence and/or misconduct of officials and causation relating to the failure to apprehend the suspect timeously.”
Sworn affidavit
Michaels said he has informed the Gardee family of seeking sworn evidence from Manamela.
“I can also confirm that the Commission has written to the legal representatives of the Gardee family, informing them that we have requested a sworn affidavit from Lt-Gen Manamela,” Michaels said,
“The Commission will not divulge further details at this stage.”
Hillary Gardee went missing on 29 April 2022 near the Nelspruit Plaza taxi rank, metres from the police station.
Her body was found on 3 May in a timber plantation outside Mbombela. Three suspects were arrested, but one, Rassie Nkune, remains at large.
