National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola has revealed under oath that President Cyril Ramaphosa was taken aback by Police Minister Senzo Mchunu’s controversial decision to disband the specialised Political Killings Task Team.
Testifying at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry, Masemola painted a picture of significant internal conflict over the unit’s fate. He detailed a tense meeting in March where Minister Mchunu reportedly became angry upon learning that the task team had investigated the murder of an ANC councillor in Mandeni. This case seemingly contradicted the Minister’s stated reason for the disbandment.
According to Masemola, Mchunu had justified shutting down the unit by asserting that there were no politically motivated killings post-1994. The discovery of the new Mandeni case, therefore, sparked a heated confrontation.
The Commissioner’s testimony further alleged a coordinated effort to obstruct the unit’s work. He claimed that suspended Crime Detection Deputy Commissioner Shadrack Sibiya and Minister Mchunu’s own Chief of Staff, Cedrick Nkabinde, actively opposed handing the task team’s sensitive dockets over to the standard KZN murder and robbery unit.
With Masemola’s two-day testimony complete, the commission is set to hear from its next witness following the Heritage Day break, as the inquiry delves deeper into the disputed dissolution of a team central to investigating high-profile assassinations.
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