I had authority to disband PKTT – Mchunu

Suspended police ministerSenzo Mchunusays it was within his constitutional mandate to disband the political killings task team (PKTT) in December 2024. Mchunu started his evidence at the Madlanga commission on Thursday by highlighting the duties of a police minister, which include the power to instruct the national commissioner. My view is that it is possible for police to conduct their duties without violating human rights.

Maj-Gen Margaretha van Rooyen, head of governance, legislation and policy at the legal services division at the SAPS, previously told the commission that Mchunu did not have the authority to disband the task team. The question is whether it was a lawful instruction or direction that the minister used. Did the minister have the power to direct or command the closure of the task team that was investigating crimes?

In my view, he did not have that authority. “The decision of the minister to close the task team that was responsible for the investigation of a crime that, in my view, fell outside the mandate of the minister,” she said at the time. However, in his testimony at the commission, Mchunu said: “My directives of December 31st 2024 must be assessed within this constitutional and statutory framework.

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The allegation of overreach is rejected,” said Mchunu, adding that he had also consulted with Adv Vusi Pikoli, his advisor. Mchunu is accused of disbanding the PKTT due to the influence from criminal cartels. Allegations are that the cartels believed it was the PKTT investigating them, which led to a raid on December 6, while at that point it was the Gauteng counterintelligence operations team on their trail. However, Mchunu has rejected this notion, stating that among the reasons the teams were disbanded were complaints that the PKTT had been accused of violation of human rights while conducting their operations.

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