Suspended Police Minister, Senzo Mchunu said he took a decision to disband the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT) without consulting any of the police top officials. Suspended PoliceMinister Senzo Mchunu has admitted he disbanded the SAPS Political Killings Task Team (PKTT)without consulting the very officials best positioned to brief him, including national police commissioner Fannie Masemola. Testifying before the Madlanga Commission on Thursday, Mchunu conceded under sustained questioning from Commissioner Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga that there was no meeting, no engagement and no briefing from senior SAPS leadership before he issued the directive to shut down the PKTT on December 31, 2024.
Pressed repeatedly, Mchunu acknowledged that Masemola, with whom he confirmed having “a good working relationship”, should have been the first to advise on whether the PKTT should continue operating. The minister’s directive instructed that thePKTT be disbanded“immediately” — a term he struggled to define before the commission. Madlanga asked whether there was any prior engagement before this “bombshell” instruction.
The PKTT, established to respond to politically motivated murders largely concentrated in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), had been widely praised within SAPS and by external observers for improving arrest rates and coordination. Mchunu acknowledged that the team’s work “was always praised,” yet it remained the only task team to be dissolved under his tenure. Madlanga questioned why this specific unit drew the minister’s attention when budget pressures affected many SAPS units.
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Mchunu said the PKTT’s costs “caught our attention,” but struggled to explain why it alone was singled out. The commissioner also pressed Mchunu on the timing of his decision. Mchunu said the idea came to him during a “reflection period” on December 29.
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