Masemola says a new unit in Gauteng will soon probe unresolved political and taxi-related murders, as similar teams expand nationwide.
National Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola says the 121 case dockets that were taken from the political killings task team in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) will be returned to the province and checked against original records for discrepancies.
This comes after reports circulated that the dockets were being inspected on Thursday.
Dockets seized in March
In July, KZN police commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi made explosive allegations that Police Minister Senzo Mchunu instructed the deputy national police commissioner, Shadrack Sibiya, to order the disbandment of the team.
This resulted in the dockets being seized in March.
Speaking to the media on the second day of the 27th Interpol African Regional Conference in Cape Town, Masemola said the dockets were traced at the police headquarters in Pretoria.
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Return of dockets
The general said he gave the directive that they must be returned to KZN for investigation.
“The detectives are busy with making copies, and then from there they will be sent back to the provincial commissioner, and he will allocate them back to the political killings task team, and investigations will continue,” Masemola said.
He also said the cases contained in the dockets were complex matters that included murder, attempted murder and intimidation, and he therefore doesn’t expect any arrests to emanate from them just yet.
Regarding the current status of the KZN task team, Masemola said it was still operating and investigating cases in the province.
The team is also assisting in Gauteng, which has a shortage of investigators.
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Expansion of task teams
Masemola also revealed that the ministry will be opening a leg of the political killings task team in Gauteng in the next four weeks to tackle the number of unresolved cases.
“We have a number of unresolved cases in Gauteng that are murders of politicians and also taxi-related [murders] that are quite complex,” he said.
“And of course, we have a similar team, but not political, testing a team investigating taxi-related murders in Eastern Cape. That part of the team is also going to assist the Western Cape in the investigation of taxi-related matters.”
Mkhwanazi’s damning allegations about the political interference in police matters rocked the ministry and resulted in Mchunu’s suspension as police minister.
President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed Professor Firoz Cachalia to act in Mchunu’s place and established a commission of inquiry to look into the claims.
Watch Fannie Masemola’s media interview here:
National Police Commissioner Fanie Masemola says vetting processes will ensure that dockets being returned to the KZN Political Killings Task Team are accounted for. #Today #DStv403 #QuestionThinkAct pic.twitter.com/5NumcYs1d1
— eNCA (@eNCA) August 28, 2025
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