With the Madlanga Commission about to kick off, can we expect real change to follow soon?

I was looking forward with great expectation to the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry – now scheduled to start next week – until a sobering reminder came from evidence leader Matthew Chaskalson that, like all such probes, the findings and recommendations by the commission will not be legally enforceable.

In other words, after all the explosive revelations and deliberations before Judge Mbuyiseli Madlanga one should expect President Cyril Ramaphosa to still take his own sweet time to study the report, apply his mind, consult, and so on before any real changes could be rung in our beleaguered criminal justice system.

In the meantime, as we are duty bound as journalists, we shall keep reporting as we have been this week in which the police service continued to make the headlines for the wrong reasons.

Since the shocking revelations by KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi back in July, many citizens have become numb and are no longer shaken by what they read in the newspapers. 

What took the cake for me this week was Acting Minister of Police, Prof Firoz Cachalia telling some long-suffering citizens of the Cape Flats that there was no proper plan in place to curb the rampant gang violence that has devastated the area for decades. 

But don't worry, be patient. This acting minister might one day be made permanent and get around to doing something about it. Or the minister sitting at home on full pay might be brought back. Or a brand-new minister might be appointed and eventually crack the whip after acclimatising him or herself with the mess that is our police leadership.

Fellow poor South Africans, prepare to be shocked some more, to be disappointed and frustrated as the commission starts on Wednesday. And don't be shocked if there's another postponement or the usual stop-start.

But surely something can be done about these toothless commissions and panels of investigations. They should be given more teeth. If judges can send people to jail, why can't they order that someone be dismissed and prosecuted or something like that when they preside over commissions or panels of experts?

For now, all the judges can do is make recommendations. And, unfortunately, those in positions of power seem to like the system just the way it is because it protects them and their cronies.