Senzo Mchunu defends disputed PKTT disbandment amid scrutiny

MINISTER of Police, Senzo Mchunu, has testified that if National SAPS Commissioner General Fannie Masemola had approved the new organisational structure based on the 2019 work study, the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT) would have been dissolved back in March 2024.

- RAPULA MOATSHE

Mchunu, who is on a special leave, was testifying before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry yesterday.

His decision to write a letter dated December 31, 2024, ordering the disbandment of the PKTT, has come under criticism from KwaZulu-Natal SAPS Commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, who testified at the commission on September 17. The letter in question stated that the task team was not adding value to the police's work.

According to Mkhwanazi, Mchunu’s conclusion that the team does not add any value to policing in South Africa “was misplaced”. Masemola had also testified that he deemed as “unlawful” a directive by Mchunu to disband the PKTT, saying he reached out to President Cyril Ramaphosa for intervention.

“The president did come back to me to say he talked to Mchunu but did not tell me about the outcome,” he said during his testimony three months ago.