Zabalaza for Socialism (ZASO) notes the serious allegations of corruption, manipulation and criminal syndicate involvement within the South African Police Service (SAPS), as raised by KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi. These revelations confirm what working-class communities across the country already know from lived experience: key institutions of the state, including the police, have been captured by networks of criminal syndicates and the  predatory elites. The consequences have been devastating for poor communities, who suffer the most from the state’s failure to deliver basic services.