Police Minister Senzo Mchunu, who has been placed on special leave, told Parliament that he had reasons to believe the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT) should be disbanded.
Mchunu was testifying before the Ad Hoc Committee investigating allegations made by KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi on Thursday.
He explained that one of his reasons for wanting the team dissolved was that the South African Police Service (SAPS) National Commissioner, General Fannie Masemola, had already approved a new organogram. The plan, he said, only needed to be funded, implemented, and rolled out.
Temporary structure
According to Mchunu, the PKTT was never a formal police unit but merely a task team. A unit has to be established as part of the organogram of the police, he said. He added that task teams are temporary structures created for a specific purpose.
“Not that I have any particular individual in the team that I have a problem with, but it was optimisation. I would get resources and so on, more resources to do what we have to do in advancing the work… I then said okay, the political killings task team—we would need to disband it,” said Mchunu.
He further raised concerns about the team’s spending. And he pointed out that it was consuming a large portion of the SAPS budget while operating in only one province.
Mchunu said since his appointment as police minister, he has questioned why work is not being done. And he would often be met with a response highlighting lack of resources.
He said the PKTT detectives have better cars, accommodation, and resources in overall. However, others were still using barracks and other people’s homes.
Disbandment letter
On the letter where he ordered the closure of the task team, Mchunu denied claims that he did not write the letter himself.
He said he was watching Mkhwanazi tell the committee that the letter was probably written by some other people and challenged the committee to take his gadget and investigate the origin of the letter.
“It’s a decision I took and I’m responsible for it. And I stand by it that I’ll deal, of course, with the constitutionality and lawfulness thereof. But in terms of reaching that decision and writing it, if there’s anyone, one person to talk about it, it’s me.
“There are only three people who were involved. One was the chief of staff in my office. Because I did not want it personalised to a point where I simply write from home. I wanted the office to house it, to host it,” said Mchunu.
Mchunu explained that the chief of staff sent it to a special advisor. The latter sent it back with corrections, and he gave a go-ahead.
