'Hands off, minister'

Inquiry hears Mchunu oversteps his boundaries on disbanding team.

- Vhahangwele Nemakonde

The minister of police has no right or duty to interfere in the operations of the police force, national police commissioner Fannie Masemola told the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry yesterday.

The minister is purely responsible for the policy direction of the South African Police Service (Saps), he said.

Masemola told the commission: “The minister is responsible for national policing policy, which includes direction in terms of what the priorities are that we need to focus on as the police. The ‘how’ part of it is an operational matter where I will decide.

“I don’t expect the minister to get involved in the ‘how’ part of it in terms of executing the functions. He can identify the priority and share what he thinks, including the ‘how’ part, but not that he gets involved to say ‘do it in the following manner.”