Acting Police Minister Professor Firoz Cachalia will meet with national police commissioner General Fannie Masemola on Thursday to talk about the SA Police Service’s (SAPS) KwaZulu-Natal political killings task team.
Cachalia was officially sworn in as acting police minister on Friday at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.
Present at Cachalia’s swearing-in ceremony were President Cyril Ramaphosa, Masemola, and Acting Gauteng Judge President Aubrey Ledwaba, who presided over the ceremony.
After being sworn in, he said that he would wait to speak to Masemola before speaking to the public or media about the task team.
He also said he expects to meet with President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday after the cabinet meeting.
Plan to visit Mkhwanazi
“There is a cabinet meeting on Wednesday. I have not seen the president [Ramaphosa] yet. I expect to see him after the cabinet meeting,” he said.
“I will be having a meeting with the national commissioner [Masemola] on Thursday to discuss the political killings task team and other issues.”
He said after his meeting with Masemola, the two will discuss when they can both visit KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.
He told the media that police must fight against violent criminals within the confines of the law.
“We are not a banana republic. We have a history in this country of abuse of policing power. After our constitutional transition, we have had incidents like that of Andries Tatane. Andries Tatane is no longer with us. We had Marikana [Massacre] that happened on our watch.
“The message is we cannot allow lawlessness and unlawful violence. Police have sufficient power to fight crime.
“They [police] will get that support from me. To fight crime, we need to have a strong, efficient, and well-run organisation. We need effective policing,” said Cachalia.
His appointment was announced on July 13 by Ramaphosa after the president placed Police Minister Senzo Mchunu on a leave of absence.
Mkhwanazi’s shocking revelation
Following a shocking media briefing by Mkhwanazi on 6 July, Mchunu was placed on a leave of absence.
Mkhwanazi stated at the time that he believes Mchunu and Lieutenant-General Shadrack Sibiya, the deputy national police commissioner for crime detection, decided to disband the political killings task team in December 2024 because it raided the home of controversial Gauteng tenderpreneur Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala and because it was making a breakthrough on several criminal cases in Gauteng.
Mkhwanazi said Matlala was awarded an SAPS tender worth more than R360-million in 2024.
Mkhwanazi claims that Masemola cancelled the SAPS tender that Matlala had been awarded on May 13, 2025.
The tender was cancelled a day before Matlala’s arrest for his alleged role in the attempted murder of famous television actress and influencer Tebogo Thobejane.
Mkhwanazi stated that he possesses WhatsApp communications between Matlala and Brown Mogotsi, who is a comrade of Mchunu, in which they allegedly discuss how Mogotsi is attempting to persuade Mchunu and Sibiya to interfere with and suppress the police investigations into Matlala.
He also said that he has proofs of payment showing that Matlala funded the ANC political activities and events of Mchunu and Mogotsi.
Ramaphosa has since established the judicial commission of inquiry into criminality, political interference, and corruption in the criminal justice system to investigate Mkhwanazi’s damning allegations.
Mbuyiseli Madlanga, a recently retired Justice of the Constitutional Court, was appointed to chair and direct the judicial commission of inquiry.
