Masemola: Mchunu abused powers by disbanding task team
National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola has accused suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu of abusing his powers.
The claim relates to his order for the immediate disbandment of the KwaZulu-Natal Political Killings Task Team.
READ: MKP, DA seek criminal probe into Mchunu
Masemola told the Madlanga Commission on Monday that the decision was taken without any consultation or briefing.
He said Mchunu never asked for a meeting with him, KwaZulu-Natal commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, or the task team’s project leader, Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo.
“From the time when the minister was appointed into office, had the minister expressed any dissatisfaction or concern about the PKTT and its activities … no, we never expressed any dissatisfaction or unhappiness,” Masemola told the commission.
“Hence he was not even yet briefed about what PKTT is and what it does.”
On 31 December 2024, the minister signed a letter stating that the existence of the team was “no longer required” and directing that it be shut down immediately.
Masemola received it on 2 January while on leave.
“My interpretation is that it is a directive that actually deals with the work of the national commissioner,” he said.
"I take it as an encroachment in the operational activities of SAPS because it’s going as far as even saying when it must be done, disbanded now, now, now, without even knowing the reasons why,” he told the inquiry.
Despite the directive, Masemola defended the work of the unit. He said the PKTT had produced results in KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and at Fort Hare University, where arrests were made and cases taken to court.
“Those cases are still at court if not yet finalised because the trial of such cases takes long. But arrests have been made, and that is the work of this team,” he said.
Masemola added that the minister had previously approved the budget for the task team, which showed confidence in its work.
READ MORE: Mchunu denies any wrongdoing
“If the PKTT was ineffective, I would not have approved its budget. Hence my astonishment when I learned that the minister had issued a directive to me to implement his decision to disband the PKTT.”
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