Madlanga Commission | Mchunu says he informed Ramaphosa of PKTT disbandment only after issuing directive

December 5, 2025 97

Suspended Police minister, Senzo Mchunu, says he only discussed the disbandment of Political Killings Task Team (PKTT) with President Cyril Ramaphosa after issuing the directive.

Mchunu testified at the Madlanga Commission today, facing questions over his alleged unlawful role in disbanding the team on 31 December last year.

He said he only consulted the President in January.

Mchunu also denied that a letter from crime activist Mary de Haas influenced his decision to disband the PKTT.

De Haas had written a letter directly to Mchunu which raised complaints that PKTT members were allegedly abusing suspects.

Mchunu said he never conducted any assessment of the Political Killings Task Team’s capabilities, noting that the project was no longer financially beneficial to the ministry.

He added that it was unfair for resources to be devoted exclusively to politically motivated murders while thousands of other deaths occur each year.

“No, there had not been any specified assessment of PKTT as part of capacity. Instead the capacity that was reviewed and assessed would be murder and robbery, and all of that and it was always juxtaposed with PKTT,” Mchunu said.

The minister added that allegations of human rights abuses had been levelled against the PKTT when he decided to disband it.

He told the commission that complainants indicated the ministry was losing control due to the team’s alleged unconstitutional actions, and that these allegations, combined with the financial burden on SAPS, informed his December directive requesting a preliminary report on why the team should be retained.

“I was already in possession of what I referred to as allegations from a number of categories of people, including civil society and people from inside SAPS. When I wrote the directive, I had it in my mind that possibly certain issues were setting in SAPS via the PKTT in terms of control and administration,” Mchunu said.

He noted that politically motivated murders in KwaZulu-Natal have significantly declined over the past two years, from 11 recorded cases in 2023 to just one case reported in March this year.

Mchunu stressed that all categories of murder investigations within the ministry are now being given equal attention.