KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner, Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, is facing a fierce backlash from organized labour after he recently claimed that trade unions demanding higher wages are partly responsible for rising unemployment in South Africa.
The comments have drawn sharp criticism from the South African Policing Union (SAPU), which has accused the high-ranking officer of attempting to “erode democracy” and has bluntly advised him to focus on fighting crime and “stay in his lane.”
The union’s spokesperson, Lesiba Thobakgale, expressed profound disappointment in the Commissioner’s remarks during an interview. Thobakgale argued that Mkhwanazi’s analysis fundamentally ignores the root causes of the country’s economic woes.
“Government mismanagement, corruption and austerity, not fair wages, are the real culprits,” Thobakgale stated, articulating the union’s position.
He issued a direct challenge to the Commissioner, calling upon him to meet with SAPU for a lesson on the nation’s labour laws. “He is an employee who has been employed by the very same labour laws,” Thobakgale said, emphasising that the Commissioner’s own role is governed by the very statutes he appeared to criticise.
Thobakgale framed the country’s labour laws as a hard-won pillar of democracy, “fought for with blood and sweat,” where “some even lost their lives.” He warned that speaking about them dismissively implies a rejection of democratic gains themselves.
The union spokesperson provided a detailed defence of the collective bargaining process, explaining that wage demands are not made arbitrarily. He stated that unions rely on economic experts and analyses of both the global and domestic economy, coupled with the soaring cost of living, to inform their negotiations.
“Public servants… have a right for them to have their conditions of service [and] salaries improved so that they can be able to catch up with the high cost of living,” Thobakgale argued.
He highlighted the plight of police officers specifically, pointing to lives lost on duty, chronic understaffing, and the fact that many cannot afford adequate housing, making them targets even when off-duty.
“The General is earning a lot of money himself… maybe that’s why he finds it better for him to make such comments,” Thobakgale said. “But if he was earning the very same amount that most of the members are earning… he wouldn’t be making the very same comments.”
While acknowledging Mkhwanazi’s effectiveness in fighting crime, SAPU was unequivocal in its message: “He must stay on his lane which is to focus on crime.”
Thobakgale confirmed that the union intends to engage the Commissioner directly, not just on public platforms, to “school him” on the historical significance and legal necessity of the labour laws that protect all workers, including those in his own force.
“The labour laws are the cornerstone of employment in South Africa,” Thobakgale concluded. “Without them, we wouldn’t have such rights… We fought hard for them and we will continue to defend them.”