What the Police Minister did was unlawful – National Police Commissioner

National Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola said that he believes that suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu’s decision to disband the Political Killings Task Team was unlawful.

Masemola revealed this while responding to questions from ActionsSA Member of Parliament (MP) Dereleen James on 10 October.

“It was an unlawful act because the PKTT was operational. The Minister was getting involved in operational matters,” James said after asking Masemola why he did not tell Mchunu he was acting against the law.

“Well, according to me, yes [it was unlawful]. But I think it is up to the committee to decide whether it was unlawful or not,” the Commissioner said.

“I told him that I think he is going beyond his scope and asked him what his reasons were for closing the task team, but unfortunately, I could not get any answers.”

“It was not a request from the Minister, it was a direct instruction,” he added.

The PKTT, launched in July 2018, is an ad-hoc interdisciplinary unit within the SAPS tasked with investigating political killings.

It initially only operated within the bounds of KZN. However, over time, its success saw it expand operations to the Eastern Cape and assist the Gauteng Organised Crime Unit with one of its investigations into the criminal underworld.

After Masemola admitted that the PKTT was adding value, James asked him whether he stood up to Mchunu after the Minister decided to shut down the task team.

Masemola explained that he “came up with a plan” to wind down the PKTT instead of completely disbanding it.

“National Commissioner, that is giving in to the minister. That is allowing political interference. The Minister made a wrong decision, you should have stood up to it,” James argued.

The General further defended himself by stating that he had done everything possible to keep the PKTT operational.

He said that Mchunu’s directive was “very suspicious” and therefore decided to wind down the task team to buy time to allow for the reasons behind the Minister’s decision to become known.

“I did the best I could, and if I have to be blamed today, then I accept, but I did my best, and as we speak today, the PKTT is still in existence.”

Responding to a question from DA MP Glynnis Breytenbach, he said that he went to Mchunu, told him that the team “was doing a good job, we can’t close it,” but the minister persisted that it must be disbanded.

When asked why he did not put his foot down Masemola said that he did not do so because he considered Mchunu to have authority over him, which Breytenbach disagreed with.

Regarding Mchunu’s motivations, Masemola stated that he believes the Minister intended to close the team responsible for counter-intelligence operations in Gauteng.

Mchunu issued the directive to disband the PKTT in December 2024, it has been alleged that the minister wanted to put a stop to police investigating drug cartels that have captured the country’s criminal justice system.

These allegations included that the PTKK was disbanded in part to prevent investigations into tenderpreneur Vusimusi “Cat” Matlala, as the order to disband the unit came after raids on Matlala.

“It was only in May when police confiscated Matlala’s cellphone that we became aware of what was going on,” Masemola told Parliament.

“I didn’t know what was happening at the time, but today it shows your suspicions were correct.”

Mchunu has denied all allegations.

Masemola is the second witness to appear before the ad hoc Parliamentary committee investigating allegation made by KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi during a July press briefing.

Mkhwanazi was the first witness and appeared on Tuesday and Wednesday.