Mchunu says he was 'very sober' when he issued the directive to disband the PKTT, adding that he sought no legal counsel beyond his special adviser.
Police Minister Senzo Mchunu has finally admitted that he did not have a meeting with KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, national police commissioner Fannie Masemola, and Crime Intelligence’s Dumisani Khumalo to discuss the disbandment of the political killings task team (PKTT).
However, Mchunu said the absence of a meeting was not an offence.
Mchunu made his second appearance before Parliament’s ad hoc committee at the Good Hope Chamber in Cape Town on Friday.
Masemola and Mkhwanazi’s concern about the PKTT disbandment was the lack of consultation on Mchunu’s side. The national commissioner testified before the Madlanga Commission that Mchunu offered no explanations for his decision either.
PKTT disbandment
On Friday, Mchunu admitted that he held no meeting with the three officers directly involved with the PKTT. However, other meetings with top Saps management touched on allegations against the PKTT and other Saps matters.
After the meetings on 1, 21, and 22 November 2024, Mchunu and Masemola met at a funeral on December 28, and no courtesy was extended to Masemola to explain that a disbandment directive was pending.
“I am saying, after 28 December, I got more time when I got home to complete what I was developing after resting. I started summarising in my head and thinking what I would settle with finally, which then gave rise to me writing that letter on 31 December,” explained Mchunu.
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“You don’t normally go to a funeral and pull people aside; that’s unnatural. It can happen only with pushed thinking that you could have pulled people aside, but naturally, the flow of things does not flow like that. I’m saying there were a number of things that were in my head for quite some time after our meeting on 21 November with the deputy ministers – how to approach, package and engage the national commissioner. I had not completed my thinking by that time, until I settled down and thought about what I wanted to do.”
The meeting Mchunu held on 21 November with his deputies resolved that he would engage with Masemola on the issues around the PKTT. However, that meeting never materialised.
No meeting with Masemola, Khumalo and Mkhwanazi
Mchunu pleaded with parliament not to make him “feel” guilty for not calling a meeting with the officers to discuss the disbandment of the PKTT. He said not calling a meeting was not proof that he does not consult his colleagues before making decisions, either.
“I did not have any particular meeting with Khumalo, Masemola and Mkhwanazi focusing on the PKTT. There is no such thing, but discussions about all these terms of reference did take place in the meetings that we had on 1 and 22 November 2024,” said Mchunu.
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“It’s not like I never had any discussions with anyone on the matters. There are challenges that are within Saps that we have been discussing in the top management of Saps, but not with a view to writing directives. Those are mine, and those I sat down to think about, and I came up with them.”
‘I’m not guilty’
“There was no dedicated meeting to discuss the PKTT before I wrote the letter, but I am putting it that the directive does indicate the need for a meeting on 20 January to discuss it in the form of a report. However, I am saying this is a political task team in Saps, don’t equate it to overall policing in South Africa to make me feel guilty that I didn’t consult with the team specifically in a dedicated manner. Don’t make me feel guilty; I am not guilty of that. Don’t create an impression that I don’t consult because I do.
“Not having a meeting with the three generals does not constitute an offence. Don’t impose a feeling of guilt just because I didn’t have a meeting with them; it doesn’t work like that. I consulted not on the disbandment but on the need to review matters.”
Why couldn’t he consult
Mchunu claimed he could not satisfy the three generals with the reasons for his disbandment because some of those reasons were associated with risks.
“There were matters that couldn’t allow me to consult on the basis of risks because if I said, ‘This is one of the factors that are making me reach this decision’.
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“I couldn’t discuss that time with them; I needed a particular platform, and this platform [ad hoc] is one of those, and the [Madlanga] commission is an appropriate platform where we can then discuss these matters which concern other people who are affected by matters in the PKTT.
“I’m happy with the two platforms because they offer us a full spectrum. Don’t reach any conclusion in the matter because you have not heard it all. Even if there was no full day or meeting with the three generals, there were policing statements that were made in those two meetings, and they conveyed very clearly what my intentions as minister were, that I wanted a review.”
Reasons for disbandment
In his letter to the national commissioner on 31 December 2024, Mchunu stated that the reasons for disbanding the PKTT were that, in his opinion, its continued existence was no longer necessary. He further said the PKTT did not add any value to policing in South Africa.
“There is a whole range of issues, but what I wrote there was merely a high-level summary of what I had as a concern and the other complaints conveyed to me in confidence.”
Other reasons, according to Mchunu, were:
- Budgetary issues
- On 31 October 2024, violence and criminality expert Mary de Haas sent several letters of complaint
- On 6 November, De Haas filed another complaint with the portfolio committee on police
- Emails and text messages from former Saps official Patricia Mashale
- Media reports regarding the involvement of Crime Intelligence in the murder of Sindiso Magaqa
- On 13 November, MP Fadiel Adams sent another complaint to the NPA
“All these factors weighed heavily on my mind. I can assure you that I was sober when I wrote this letter,” said Mchunu.
Mchunu further admitted he sought no legal counsel beyond his special adviser before issuing the disbandment directive.
“I didn’t go wider than the special adviser because he happens to be an advocate, to say, ‘What is your first impression on this letter in terms of the constitution and legislation?’ He had no doubt that it was within the constitution and legislative framework.”
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