South African Police Service (SAPS) officers were involved in gun attacks on members of the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) political killings task team (PKTT) in 2019 and 2022.
This information was revealed by Lt-Col Ntate Khumalo on Monday when he was testifying at the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Criminality, Political Interference, and Corruption in the Criminal Justice System taking place in Pretoria.
Khumalo is a former member of the KZN PKTT, where he held several leadership positions, including commander of the mission area joint operations centre (Majoc). He served in the KZN PKTT from its inception in 2018 until he left in 2025.
He is currently deployed at the SAPS national head office in Pretoria.
During his work as a PKTT member, the unit’s investigating officers experienced three attacks between 2019 and 2022, allegedly executed by hitmen.
Khumalo said there were no police fatalities during the three attacks.
Hitmen sourced from taxi industry
He said the first attack on PKTT officers happened in 2019, when two officers were shot in the lower part of the body while traveling in southern KwaZulu-Natal.
Khumalo stated that the second and third attacks took place in December 2022.
He said when an investigating team was busy with observations in Phoenix, the team moved to a petrol station. A person opened fire on four officers while they were there.
“The officers managed to neutralise the victim [suspect], and the victim was no more. Three officers were wounded, but there were no fatalities,” said Khumalo.
He said the third gun attack occurred in an area in the Msinga local municipality when PKTT officers were driving up the mountains of the Msinga area.
Khumalo said a vehicle was following them, and the officers began to accelerate. Two officers were shot by the vehicle’s passenger, he said, but they were not killed.
“In all three attacks, a ‘hand’ of a police officer was detected. R5 guns were used in the attacks, and these types of guns are given to police officers. In the Phoenix attack, an SAPS officer was involved.
“In the Msinga attack, the driver of the suspect’s vehicle is an SAPS officer. The passenger is a civilian. This means the SAPS officer gave his R5 gun to a civilian to shoot at the PKTT officers,” said Khumalo.
Khumalo said throughout the course of its general investigative work in political killings in KwaZulu-Natal, the PKTT discovered that hitmen were sourced from the taxi industry or from private security companies utilised by municipalities.
He said hit orderes, or masterminds are, in most cases, financially muscled and pay the legal fees of the hitmen when they are arrested and charged in court.
“The hit orderers are financially muscled, take care of the family of the hitmen, and can buy anyone. The hitmen take the fall on behalf of the hit orderers,” said Khumalo.
Chain of command
He said the PKTT uncovered an organogram, or chain of command, of how hits are executed.
Khumalo said the chain of command consists of the hit orderers, coordinator, spotters and drivers.
“The hit orderer or hit orderers can be many in some cases if the perpetrators have a common target and purpose. The coordinator can be a person who knows the hitmen, and in some cases the coordinator is a person who brings the resources for the hitmen, such as guns and cars.
“The spotters are the people who monitor, track, and trace the movements of the targeted victim for a month or so. The driver’s role is to drive the vehicle before and after the shooting of the victim,” said Khumalo.
He said in some cases, the hit orderers hire hitmen to kill the investigating officers or find ways to get rid of the case docket. The commission continues.
