By Johnathan Paoli
Former police minister Bheki Cele has contradicted several key claims made by his successor, suspended minister Senzo Mchunu, in his testimony before parliament’s ad-hoc committee probing political interference and alleged underworld infiltration of SAPS.
Appearing under oath on Wednesday, Cele, who served as police minister from 2018 to 2024, appeared calm but assertive, often interrupting to clarify what he called “factual and procedural inaccuracies” in Mchunu’s testimony earlier this week.
Led by chief evidence leader and senior counsel Norman Arendse, Cele repeatedly dismissed suggestions that the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT) was an illegal structure or that it was properly disbanded under Mchunu’s authority.
“The minister cannot go and establish or disestablish a task team; he must go through the national commissioner. Procedurally, I do not agree with it. It is not true that only the PKTT has been operating and [getting funds],” Cele said.
This statement directly contradicts Mchunu’s claim that, as minister, he had the right to disband the PKTT, a move he justified as part of streamlining SAPS structures and addressing what he called “duplication and waste”.
Cele said he was “taken aback” when he saw the 31 December 2024 letter disbanding the PKTT, adding that “only the Inter Ministerial Committee (IMC) could disestablish the task team.”
He told the committee that during an IMC meeting on 5 September 2023, members had explicitly resolved that the task team should not be dissolved.
In another major contradiction of Mchunu’s evidence, Cele insisted that the IMC continued to exist into the Seventh Administration, rejecting Mchunu’s claim that it dissolved automatically after the 2024 elections.
Cele also dismissed Mchunu’s claims that the PKTT added “no measurable value” to policing.
“Councillors are still under guard. Work has been done, but the mission is not complete. Don’t tell me there is stability when people are still dying,” Cele said.
He likened the disbandment decision to “withdrawing VIP protection because a minister hasn’t been shot”.
Cele said he was concerned that a “funny chain of events” involving academics and officials had contributed to the PKTT’s dismantling.
He pointed to the role of KZN-based academic and violence monitor, Mary de Haas, who had written to SAPS leadership in October 2024 questioning the legality and costs of the task team.
Cele confirmed that he had tried to reach out to Mchunu to discuss the matter but was “not entertained”.
He said he even approached President Cyril Ramaphosa at the ANC’s January 8 celebrations to facilitate a meeting, to no avail.
In one of the hearing’s more dramatic turns, Cele admitted meeting businessman Vusimusi ‘Cat’ Matlala, whose name has surfaced in allegations of political interference and corrupt police contracts. Matlala is currently in jail on attempted murder charges while awaiting the outcome of a renewed attempt at bail.
Cele confirmed that Matlala approached him after a December 2024 police raid, claiming to be “used for political games” and that Crime Intelligence head Lieutenant General Dumisani Khumalo was being targeted.
“He told me (suspended deputy national commissioner Shadrack) Sibiya asked him for an affidavit so they could arrest Khumalo,” Cele said.
When asked about the allegations of PKTT members having stolen expensive watches from Matlala, Cele replied: “He said no Rolex was stolen from him.”
The revelation that a former police minister spoke to the Crime Intelligence head on behalf of an alleged tender beneficiary, stunned parliament.
Committee members, including Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema, and African National Congress MP Khusela Diko, pressed Cele to clarify the nature of the intervention, before the session adjourned for lunch.
Cele’s testimony continues.
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