The Gauteng provincial government has denied a claim by South African Police Service SAPS KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Commissioner, Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, that its crime prevention wardens are illegal.
Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi launched the initiative, which recruited thousands of youths through the Nasi Ispani public employment programme, in 2023.
However, in his testimony before Parliaments ad hoc committee probing alleged criminality, political interference and corruption in the criminal justice system on Wednesday 8 October, Mkhwanazi said he warned about the initiatives illegality at a previous meeting of the police board of commissioners BOC.