Mchunu faces backlash over disbandment of political killings team

IT CAME to light that a letter penned by Mchunu dated January 2, pointed out that the task team was not adding value to the policing work.

- 

Mkhwanazi said: “The minister's conclusion that the team does not add any value to policing in South Africa was misplaced.”

He said that whoever advised Mchunu to disband the political killings task team likely did so because they mistakenly believed the team was responsible for investigating organised crime in Gauteng, which involved senior police officers, politicians, and their associates.

According to him, the minister's letter interfered with the operational work of the SAPS, which fell outside the minister’s policy-making and directive role. Mkhwanazi said the filling of crime intelligence posts was the responsibility of the divisional commissioner and the national SAPS commissioner, not the minister.

“The impact of this is severe. We have already been trying to put some reforms within crime intelligence in order to respond to the growing crime level in the country,” he said.

The commission will scrutinise 121 dockets related to political murders in KwaZulu-Natal, involving councillors, office bearers, and traditional leaders.