Police Minister Senzo Mchunu’s December 2024 disbandment letter and the taking of the infamous 121 case dockets to Pretoria led to a decline in the number of members of the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) political killings task team (PKTT).
By December 31, the day Mchunu sent the disbandment letter to national commissioner of police Gen Fannie Masemola, the KZN PKTT had 98 members, and by August, when the infamous 121 case dockets were returned to the task team, the team had only 56 members.
Team members jump ship
This means 42 members left the task team after Mchunu’s disbandment letter and after the 121 dockets were taken from KZN and sent to suspended deputy national commissioner Lt-Gen Shadrack Sibiya’s office at the police headquarters in Pretoria.
Mchunu is currently on special leave.
This was revealed by Lt-Col Ntate Khumalo on Monday. Khumalo 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. He held several leadership positions, including commander of the mission area joint operations centre (Majoc). Khumalo served in the KZN PKTT from its inception in 2018 until he left the task team in 2025.
He is currently deployed at the SAPS national head office in Pretoria.
On Monday, Khumalo was testifying about the infamous 121 case dockets that were taken from the KZN PKTT to Sibiya’s office in March 2025.
Khumalo said he became aware of Mchunu’s letter disbanding the KZN PKTT on social media.
Fielding calls from concerned members
“It struck us by surprise. It was lightning. I was receiving calls from the members on the ground. It was not a nice feeling. It tore us apart…” said Khumalo.
He said in December 2024 the KZN PKTT had 98 members when Mchunu wrote the disbandment letter of the task team.
“The 121 dockets were taken from KZN to Pretoria. When the dockets were returned to KZN in August 2025, the task team had 56 members left. These 56 members include detection and combat members, one digital forensic investigator and admin personnel.
“In the other disciplines, specialists are no longer there. There is no full capacity. There are no longer any crime scene analysts. The ballistic experts moved from three to zero… The disbandment letter and taking of the dockets negatively impacted the team,” said Khumalo.
He added that families of the victims connected to the 121 dockets are dissatisfied about the months lost of substantive, investigative work into those dockets.
The KZN PKTT remains operational despite Mchunu’s disbandment letter.
Khumalo’s testimony is led by one of the commission’s evidence leaders Adv Adila Hassim SC.
The commission, which is chaired by retired Constitutional Court Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, is sitting at the Brigitte Mabandla Justice College in Pretoria.
The commission continues on Tuesday at 9:30am with a new witness to take the stand.
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