The national commissioner took the stand on Monday, where he explained his responsibilities in the force, compared to those of the minister.
National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola has told the Madlanga commission that the minister of police is responsible for the policy direction of the South African Police Service (Saps), not its operational matters.
The national commissioner took the stand on Monday, where he explained his responsibilities in the force, compared to those of the minister.
Masemola told the commission: “The minister is responsible for national policing policy, which includes the direction in terms of what the priorities are that we need to focus on as the police. However, the ‘how’ part of it is an operational matter where I will decide,” said Masemola.
“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 can share what he thinks, including the ‘how’ part, but not that he gets involved to say ‘do it in the following manner’.”
Mchunu’s encroachment
In a letter dated 31 December 2024 in which Mchunu allegedly directed the disbandment of the political killings task team (PKTT), the minister says in part: “My observation is that further existence of this team is no longer required…”
This directive, according to Masemola’s testimony, was an encroachment on the national police commissioner’s mandate.
“In the case of the PKTT, it is a task team that is working on a lower level under a provincial commissioner, if ever he found anything wrong with the task team, he could say, ‘I think you need to disband it’ and we can engage on the why and how, but to go further to say disband and now, that is total encroachment into the mandate of the national commissioner in terms of the performance of my duties,” said Masemola.
ALSO READ: Mkhwanazi: ‘Brown Mogotsi knew about task team disbandment and 121 dockets before me’
“He cannot say, ‘disband such a low-level team. That team is not working at a strategic level; it’s very low-level, down on the ground’; and he also can’t deal with the how part, as ‘you must do it now’. That is within the purview of the national and provincial commissioners.”
A police minister cannot instruct the national commissioner to establish any task team; that decision lies in the hands of the national and provincial commissioners.
Masemola on how the task team was disbanded
During his testimony last week, KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi said the decision to disband the task team was never officially communicated to him. On the date Mchunu allegedly signed the letter, Masemola was on leave.
Masemola told the commission on Monday that the political killings task team was not the first of its kind. It was, in fact, a result of the disbandment of a previous one, established in 2017 for the same purpose. However, according to Masemola, it was not effective, resulting in its disbandment.
ALSO READ: Madlanga commission: Mkhwanazi pulls no punches, says Mchunu involved with criminals
The decision to disband the previous task team was, however, in stark contradiction to how the political killings task team was disbanded.
Consultations
The previous former was disbanded following consultations, whereas the latter appears to have been a decision of one man.
“There was an initial task team. There was a previous team established to deal with political killings in 2017. It was not particularly effective or successful. A decision was taken to disband it. During its disbandment, a new task team was established, which is now known as the PKTT,” said Masemola.
“The previous team was disbanded in consultation with the directors general or commissioners of Saps, NPA and Correctional Services. During those meetings, that’s when the new team was moving out, and a new team was established. Ministers of respective departments were informed of the decision of the directors general, of the intention to dissolve the old team. After consultation, the national commissioner, Kehla Sitole, made the decision to disband.
ALSO READ: Madlanga Commission: Mkhwanazi warns criminal justice system risks total collapse
“As the inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) went to KZN, they went with their directors general. During the meetings, the national commissioner saw it fit to consult the other roleplayers because they have a role to play. It was important that he consult them so that they could assist the task team with the role that they are playing to make the work of the PKTT smooth.”
