Intelligence boss' arrest halted over security concerns
Publish date: 22 June 2026
Issue Number: 1182
Diary: IBA Legalbrief Africa
Category: South Africa
The Investigating Directorate Against Corruption’s (Idac) planned arrest of Crime Intelligence head Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo for fraud was called off due to alleged national security concerns over his role in addressing the anti-immigration March and March protests. March and March leaders have given 30 June as the deadline for undocumented immigrants to leave SA – and strongly suggested that those who stayed could face violence, reports News24. Khumalo, as head of police Crime Intelligence, is understood to have been deployed to the law enforcement team that will monitor and respond to the protests. James Ndebele, the attorney representing Khumalo and Major-General Nozipho Madondo, declined to comment on the reasons the Crime Intelligence boss was given for his arrest not proceeding. He confirmed in a media statement that an Idac officer had called the officers on Thursday and informed them that there was a warrant for their arrest. ‘The said official directed our clients to surrender themselves at Brooklyn police station for arrest and detention. They were further advised to bring overnight bags,’ Ndebele said. That planned arrest did not take place, however.
According to Ndebele, instead, ‘our clients were called by Mr Dylan Perumal, who is a former Brigadier in the SAPS and now a chief investigator for Idac’. ‘Mr Perumal advised our clients that he was instructed by “senior management” not to proceed with enforcement of the warrants of their arrest due to various reasons we are not at liberty to divulge publicly,’ he added. News24 has learnt that these ‘various reasons’ included Idac’s concerns over Khumalo’s role in addressing the anti-immigration protests. ‘The concern was that, if anything goes wrong between now and the 30th June, Idac will face accusations that we removed the head of Crime Intelligence and therefore put the country at risk,’ said an impeccably placed source. The source added that Khumalo had been told that Idac head Andrea Johnson wanted to ‘put the country first’. While Ndebele did not detail the charges against his clients, it is understood that they relate to Madondo’s alleged lack of security vetting, which had previously been flagged as a ‘national security risk’ by suspended Inspector-General of Intelligence Imtiaz Fazel. President Cyril Ramaphosa suspended Fazel in October 2025, after an undisclosed complaint was made against him by Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence. Fazel had allegedly found that Khumalo ‘subverted’ Crime Intelligence vetting processes and should face disciplinary processes for allegedly going out of his way to keep Madondo in her job in a 2025 report. Both Khumalo and Madondo are also on trial, alongside four other officers, over the allegedly fraudulent appointment of Brigadier Dineo Mokwele to a senior position in Crime Intelligence. Idac has not publicly commented on the aborted Khumalo and Madondo arrests, except to deny that Khumalo had been arrested.
The management of the police met with Acting Minister of Police Firoz Cachalia on Saturday to outline security measures that will be put in place for the planned demonstrations against undocumented foreigners, reports The Citizen. President Cyril Ramaphosa has, however, dismissed the 30 June deadline, citing the deliberate use of the immigration debate by some individuals to create disorder. Police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said Cachalia expressed satisfaction with the measures put in place by the police. The meeting was led by Acting Police Commissioner General Puleng Dimpane. Cachalia and the Deputy Ministers of Police will meet with Minister of Defence, Angie Motshekga, and Premiers of all nine provinces to reinforce effective co-ordination and monitoring among all relevant security role players and to ensure adequate support ahead of the demonstrations. Mathe said Cachalia will also meet with representatives of the private security industry, recognising their important role as force multipliers. The Ministry of Police will conduct visits to identified areas that have experienced heightened levels of instability to assess operational readiness and reinforce policing efforts. Cachalia expressed confidence that the police is operationally prepared to uphold and enforce the law. Cachalia has urged all Provincial Commissioners to enforce the law without fear or favour and to respond swiftly and decisively to any acts of incitement, violence, intimidation or criminality He has assured all South Africans that their safety and security remain a priority and that the SAPS remains fully committed to protecting all people in the Republic and upholding the Constitution by maintaining law and order while safeguarding everyone’s rights.
Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber’s spokesperson, Carli van Wyk, said the department continues to support broader government efforts through the Inter-ministerial Committee on Migration and remains engaged with stakeholders in Durban. The Sunday Tribune reports that Van Wyk said Schreiber would be in Sherwood, today, as a follow-up to a previous visit by the committee, related to the Malawian migrants who are seeking to return to their country. eThekwini Mayor Cyril Xaba said the SA Government, working with the Malawian High Commission, was making progress in ensuring that Malawian nationals who had remained at the Sherwood site for extended periods were repatriated and deported in an orderly and humane manner. The ministerial task team on migration descended on the Lindela Repatriation Centre in Krugersdorp on Friday to assess the facility’s capacity and readiness to process an increased number of undocumented migrants, reports News24. The team, comprising Cachalia, Minister of Justice Mmamoloko Kubayi, Minister of International Relations & Co-operation Ronald Lamola and Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Njabulo Nzuza, warned that those who broke the law by threatening and intimidating foreigners would be arrested. Responding to ongoing threats of intimidation against foreign nationals after Ramaphosa warned citizens against participating in xenophobic vigilantism, Cachalia said no one had the right to take the law into their own hands and arrest or intimidate undocumented foreign nationals. Cachalia’s words came after March and March leader Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma urged followers to effect citizen's arrests of undocumented foreigners. Cachalia said he could not assure the nation and the world that they would not witness a repeat of the 2008 xenophobic attacks in which many people were killed. Asked if the police were ready to prevent violent attacks from recurring, Cachalia said: ‘We are determined to deal with criminality. Those who would indulge in this kind of action are themselves behaving like criminals …'
Meanwhile, several foreign nationals were brutally assaulted and chased through the Masukwana informal settlement in Pietermaritzburg on Friday, after a group of anti-immigration protesters swarmed through the area following a demonstration in the CBD. While this was taking place, police officers stood on the road outside the settlement. According to News24, the violence was not only directed at foreign nationals. Journalists covering the xenophobic attack also found themselves under threat as protesters attempted to prevent footage of the attack from being recorded. Some foreign nationals sought refuge close to police vehicles parked along a nearby road. Others continued to be assaulted before police officers intervened and placed them inside their vehicles for protection. Minister of Public Works & Infrastructure Dean Macpherson called on law enforcement agencies to act against those responsible for violence against migrants, warning that the attacks are tarnishing the country’s international reputation, reports Moneyweb. ‘We have duty and responsibility to protect the vulnerable, we have a duty and a responsibility to enforce our immigration laws,’ Macpherson told reporters at a Foreign Correspondents’ Association of Southern Africa event in Johannesburg on Friday. ‘But we also have a duty and responsibility to find those that are agitating for violence and hatred, and of course, international perception is important.’ SA’s Cabinet is due to discuss the matter on Friday.
Second Independent on Saturday report
