By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Power dynamics among South Africa’s police leaders have been in focus at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry, where it was heard that Senzo Mchunu, the police minister on special leave, and Shadrack Sibiya, the recently suspended senior cop, overstepped their mandates.
After KZN Commissioner General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi’s press conference, it was decided in Parliament that an ad hoc committee would run parallel to the Madlanga Commission to investigate his allegations and related issues.
Parliament’s ad hoc committee has not yet officially begun its hearings, which are expected next month.
In today’s proceedings, Elaine Harrison, the Director of Public Prosecutions in KwaZulu-Natal, testified at the commission.
Harrison told the commission that, she found out about the controversial plan to disband the province’s Political Killings Task Team (PKTT) from social media, she thought it was fake news.
She later realised that the disbandment news may be true, even though she was never officially told so.
“At no stage was any formal communication addressed to my office notifying us of the de-establishment of the task team, “she said.
Harrison added that she has still not been formally informed about the PKTT’s status.
The PKTT started its work in 2018 to deal with political violence and related crimes, and Mchunu’s order to disband it was contained in a letter dated 31 December 2024.
According to evidence previously heard in the commission, Mchunu’s letter had said the PKTT was not “adding any value to policing in South Africa”.
The commission also heard that Mchunu had no authority to disband the team and that there were suspicions that he was pressured into doing so because this would have benefitted certain suspects under the impression that the team was investigating them.
While the PKTT limited its work after Mchunu’s order, it was never fully disbanded.
Harrison explained that political violence was an ongoing issue that had been flagged, and it was anticipated that these crimes would pick up ahead of elections.
“As the Director of Public Prosecution for KwaZulu-Natal, I have considered the Political [Killings] Task Team as an essential and necessary structure for the province… and the country as a whole,” she said.
“This is so as the team is precisely aimed at dealing with politically motivated and related crimes that gained momentum and threatened to destabilise the province and to spiral into other provinces.”
While the PKTT was never fully dissolved, as per Mchunu’s order, 121 dockets were removed from it earlier this year and were only recently returned.
This means that for several months no investigative work was done on those dockets.
She said work needed to be done to make up for the time that dockets meant to have been with the team were removed.
The Madlanga Commission is expected to resume on Monday, 29 September, with Dumisani Khumalo, the national head of Crime Intelligence set to testify.
Khumalo, along with six others, were arrested in June on charges of fraud and corruption related to the appointment of an ‘unqualified civilian’ to a senior post within the SAPS.
The person has since been identified as Dineo Mokwele.
They are accused of flouting critical vetting processes and abusing public funds, which are essential for maintaining integrity in sensitive roles handling confidential information.
Appointed as Crime Intelligence head in December 2022, Khumalo’s leadership has been marred by controversy.
In March 2025, former Police Minister Bheki Cele attempted to dismiss him for failing to disband a task team investigating political killings in KwaZulu-Natal, amid claims of political interference. Khumalo was later reinstated or cleared, but the incident underscored tensions in SAPS leadership.