{"id":101275,"date":"2025-10-10T18:46:01","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T16:46:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/?p=101275"},"modified":"2025-10-10T19:22:48","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T17:22:48","slug":"concerns-raised-over-police-commissioners-comments-on-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/concerns-raised-over-police-commissioners-comments-on-media\/","title":{"rendered":"Concerns Raised Over Police Commissioner\u2019s Comments on Media"},"content":{"rendered":"

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za<\/a> <\/em>
\n2-minute read | 10 October 2025 | 11:45 CAT<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"

\ud83d\udcf8 Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi appears before Parliament\u2019s Ad Hoc Committee, calling for investigations into state institutions while sparking debate on media freedom.<\/p><\/div>\n

KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Police Commissioner, Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, has sparked concern following comments about the media during his appearance before Parliament\u2019s Ad Hoc Committee. The South African National Editors Forum (SANEF) says the remarks pose potential risks to press freedom.<\/p>\n

Sli Khanyile, SANEF\u2019s Media Freedom Chair, told Radio Islam International<\/a><\/em> that Mkhwanazi\u2019s statements are \u201cvery dangerous\u201d due to his seniority and credibility in the police and security sector. \u201cWhen he says something about journalists and the media, people easily believe him,\u201d Khanyile said.<\/p>\n

Khanyile noted that the remarks were broad and generalised the media rather than addressing specific cases. \u201cEven when specific media houses are singled out, it\u2019s still very general,\u201d she said, adding that such generalisations can undermine public trust, particularly amid misinformation and disinformation. While journalists should be accountable for substantiated errors, sweeping statements can affect perceptions of the industry as a whole.<\/p>\n

She also raised concerns about calls for heavy penalties against journalists. \u201cWho decides when a journalist has actually erred?\u201d Khanyile asked, highlighting the need for context, standards, and due process. She emphasised the importance of protecting investigative journalism and confidential sources. \u201cInvestigative journalism depends on people sharing information on the basis that their identity will remain protected,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

South Africa remains a country where journalists can operate freely, and SANEF underlines that media freedom carries responsibility alongside the duty to hold power accountable.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Lieutenant General Mkhwanazi has called on Parliament to investigate several matters, including alleged leaks of classified information and concerns over the functioning of certain state institutions, signalling a broader review of governance and accountability in the criminal justice system.<\/p>\n

Listen<\/strong> to the full interview on The Daily Round-Up<\/em><\/a> with Annisa Essack and Sli Khanyile.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za 2-minute read | 10 October 2025 | 11:45 CAT KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Police Commissioner, Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, has sparked concern following comments about the media during his appearance before Parliament\u2019s Ad Hoc Committee. The South African National Editors Forum (SANEF) says the remarks pose potential risks to press freedom. Sli Khanyile, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":101276,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[28,4995],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-101275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-south-africa"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Nhlanhla-Mkhwanazi.jpg?fit=1153%2C552&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc0QIf-qlt","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-23 09:24:41","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101275\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}