By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Acting police minister Firoz Cachalia says he still does not understand the reasons his predecessor Senzo Mchunu disbanded the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT).
Cachalia appeared before the Parliament Ad Hoc Committee.
The Ad Hoc Committee is investigating the allegations made by SAPS KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Head, Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.
Cachalia said that while the team had achieved success in curbing political assassinations, Mchunu’s unilateral directive reflected a breakdown of trust between him and National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola.
“There was a lack of mutual respect and communication between Mchunu and Masemola, “he added.
He said there could have been sound reasons to disband the KZN task team, but Mchunu did not consult or communicate his decision inappropriately.
Cachalia said “task teams are not immortal” and “subject to budgetary decisions and changes of priorities”.
“So from my point of view, it is not that the minister took the view that the task team should be disbanded, it’s the process that was followed, “said Cachalia.
He told MPs he had received a report from Masemola after his appointment in August 2025, recommending that the task team continue and that “similar capacity needs to be developed” in other provinces.
“I was quite happy with [Masemola’s] recommendation, that was contained in his written report that the team should not be dismantled in the current moment.”
Cachalia commended the task team’s innovative investigative methods, he reiterated Mchunu’s remarks that internal capacity within SAPS should be built to do the work the task team is doing.
“We certainly need, on a national basis, to respond to this problem of the involvement of cartels, infiltrating our institutions, increasingly emboldened, quite prepared to assassinate people,” said Cachalia.
Cachalia said the task team had been successful precisely because it adopted an “integrated approach” to investigating political violence — something often lacking in the South African Police Service (SAPS) operations.
“The criminal justice cluster always struggles to overcome the silo problem — to get different parts of the system working together to tackle a challenge, “he said.
Asked whether Mchunu’s December 2024 instruction to “immediately” disband the task team amounted to corruption or political interference, Cachalia declined to speculate.
“I cannot put myself in the position of my predecessor, and I don’t think it’ll be appropriate for me to second-guess the decisions he made, “he said.
“Mchunu’s decision to disband the task team may have been made in good faith; however, in hindsight, there ought to have been consultation with colleagues in the cabinet whose judgment about the disbandment of such a team would have been essential.”
Cachalia said the Madlanga Commission and the parliamentary inquiry could mark a turning point for the embattled police service.
“My view is that the South African Police Service is going through a very difficult period and the inquiry you are conducting and the Madlanga Commission will be a moment of some difficulty for the country because we are being exposed to testimony that is very disconcerting,” he said.
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