By Johnathan Paoli
National police commissioner General Fannie Masemola has told Parliament that he was blindsided and deeply unsettled by Police Minister Senzo Mchunu’s directive to abruptly disband the country’s most successful political killings task team late last year.
Testifying before Parliament’s ad hoc committee probing corruption in the criminal justice system, Masemola said he only learnt of the instruction on 31 December last year, while on annual leave, and was never given any coherent explanation for the move.
“When I read it, it was a shock and a surprise. The question came up: why? It was just a devastating way of doing things,” Masemola told evidence leader Norman Arendse.
The Political Killings Task Team (PKTT) was established in 2017 after a surge in political assassinations in KwaZulu-Natal.
Then police minister Fikile Mbalula had travelled with Masemola, then a deputy commissioner, from Durban to Cape Town in what Masemola recalled as a “small-nyana airplane” to assess the crisis.
The initial provincial task team was failing, so the leadership ordered a fresh start, drawing expertise from across the country, including officers who had fought rhino-poaching syndicates.
The PKTT later expanded into the Eastern Cape, where it cracked open the Fort Hare University assassinations.
By February this year, the PKTT had processed 625 dockets: 297 were finalised, 114 were before court, 57 withdrawn, 125 under investigation, and nine were deemed unfounded.
“It was a success, ja, the team arrested a lot of people for murder and other cases,” Masemola said.
He insisted its presence had deterred further killings.
The commissioner noted that President Cyril Ramaphosa and then-police minister Bheki Cele were fully briefed in March 2024 and raised no concerns.
Yet when Mchunu took over in July 2024, the PKTT was never properly introduced to him.
“Before that [31 December], he was never briefed on the PKTT,” Masemola said.
Masemola recounted that he first saw mention of the directive on WhatsApp but dismissed it until he received a formal call from head office.
When deputy commissioner Shadrack Sibiya presented him with letters implementing Mchunu’s order, Masemola resisted.
He telephoned Mchunu directly in January 2025 to demand reasons but received only vague references to Crime Intelligence controversies.
Later that month, Mchunu told him he might appoint senior counsel to review the PKTT.
But no full briefing ever occurred.
Masemola also took the issue directly to Ramaphosa in February.
“The impression was he didn’t know about the matter. He seemed to be surprised about that [letter]. He was taken aback, sort of,” he said.
Despite follow-up meetings, including one in Cape Town where Mchunu indicated he would sign off on a disbandment plan, the process stalled.
Masemola said he eventually submitted a winding-down proposal on 22 January but never heard back.
Later, members of the task team discovered messages suggesting the motive was to shield sensitive investigations in Gauteng, particularly around businessman Vusimusi “Cat” Matlala.
He contrasted the move with the dismantling of the Scorpions, when officers were individually summoned to hand over dockets.
Masemola expressed frustration that neither Mchunu nor his chief of staff Cedrick Nkabinde ever provided clear reasons.
The inquiry is expected to continue on Friday with MPs cross-examining Masemola.
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