KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi says there is a ploy to silence investigations into the murders of personalities in the entertainment industry.

He said senior officials protecting the interests of criminal networks tied to drug cartels are behind the stalling of the investigations.

Speaking to the media on Sunday, Mkhwanazi said firearms recovered in Gauteng have been forensically linked to the killings of prominent local artists dating as far back as 2021.

“I'm not saying which type of artists, but the prominent South African artists that were murdered, their cases haven’t been resolved to date,” he said.