SAPS commissioner accuses police minister of derailing probe into political killings

Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, the KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner, on Sunday claimed that the disbandment of the Political Killings Task Team was orchestrated to shield politically connected members of a criminal syndicate from prosecution, with the assistance of Police Minister Senzo Mchunu.

Mkhwanazi said, “I can confirm before South Africans today that the investigation which these members were involved with in Gauteng has unmasked the syndicate, and this syndicate involves, amongst others, politicians who are currently serving in Parliament.”

He said some syndicate members were in “the South African Police Service, the metro police and Correctional Services. They include prosecutors in Gauteng province, the judiciary … and all these are controlled by the drug cartel and businesspeople in Gauteng. This act, of course, undermines the criminal justice system in this country.”

In a presentation shared to accompany the briefing, Mkhwanazi outlined the allegations.

The Political Killings Task Team was formed after the 2018 assassination of ANC activist Musawenkosi “Qashana” Mchunu. Backed by a multi-agency presidential task force and praised for its prosecution-led, intelligence-driven strategy, the team had, by 2025, investigated more than 600 politically related dockets, arrested 436 suspects, and recovered 156 firearms, with at least 55 of them linked to political crimes. Convictions to date total over 1,800 years in prison across more than 100 cases.

Daily Maverick reported that on 31 December 2024, Police Minister Mchunu issued a letter to National Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Fannie Masemola, requesting that the team be disbanded.

The minister said the task team was no longer necessary because it did not add value to policing in the province, according to the SABC.

Despite this instruction, Mkhwanazi said at the time he would continue the fight to ensure the task team was allowed to proceed with high-profile investigations.

Mkhwanazi said members of the task team were working with detectives in Gauteng on possible cover-ups in murder cases in the province that involved senior police officers.

The disbandment of the task team was followed by a series of internal memos from SAPS Crime Detection head Lieutenant General Shadrack Sibiya withdrawing 121 case dockets from the team without the approval of the national or provincial commissioners. These dockets have reportedly sat untouched at the SAPS head office ever since.

WhatsApp messages

Sunday’s briefing included explosive revelations such as WhatsApp messages and screenshots allegedly sourced from the phone of accused businessman Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala, showing communication between Matlala, Minister Mchunu and a politically connected intermediary, Brown Mogotsi.

The chats suggest knowledge of the task team’s disbandment before it was made public, direct discussions of “solutions” to investigations and apparent financial support for political campaigns and 8 January ANC events.

Matlala was arrested by the task team in May and faces charges of attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder and money laundering. Less than two weeks later, the Investigative Directorate Against Corruption moved to seize the task team’s exhibits, including Matlala’s cellphone, and arrested the team’s project coordinator. One of the syndicate suspects arrested by the team, Katiso Molefe, was granted bail.

The effect, Mkhwanazi said on Sunday, had been chilling, with the Gauteng investigations into organised crime “compromised” and confidence in the State’s willingness to prosecute politically connected suspects further eroded.

The EFF expressed grave concern, saying the briefing laid bare “the existence of a powerful, organised criminal syndicate operating at the highest levels of the South African state”.

The EFF urged the chairperson on Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Police, Ian Cameron, to convene an urgent portfolio committee sitting for a briefing from Mchunu.

Cameron said the DA had written to National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza for an urgent debate in Parliament on corruption within the SAPS.

“These disturbing allegations of corruption, political interference and malfeasance at the very top of South Africa’s law enforcement and national security infrastructure must be investigated immediately,” said Cameron.

“The President of the republic, who is presently away, must also immediately respond to allegations against a Cabinet minister.”

‘Great role model’

On social media on Sunday, Eskom board chairperson Mteto Nyati called Mkhwanazi “a great role model” and said his “decision to speak out” was “exemplary”.

Build One South Africa (Bosa)said it was “disturbed by the string of weighty revelations. Of particular concern is General Mkhwanazi’s claim that the task team appointed to investigate police killings was deliberately sabotaged from within the South African Police Service (SAPS). If true, this fundamentally undermines the integrity of our criminal justice institutions and threatens public safety.

“His allegations implicate senior police officials, prosecutors, judges, members of Parliament and members of the executive in acts that sabotage law enforcement and enable political killings.

“These are the symptoms of a state in capture crisis, where criminal syndicates and corrupt politicians allegedly operate with impunity.”

Bosa joined the growing calls for Mchunu, Mkhwanazi and others involved to urgently appear before Parliament.

Mkhwanazi’s briefing ended with a call to SAPS members to “stand up and protect our people against this criminal syndicate”, even as he confirmed a formal criminal investigation was under way into the apparent capture of parts of South Africa’s criminal justice system.

“Despite all these challenges, we acknowledge and appreciate the resilience of the members of the Political Killings Task Team,” said Mkhwanazi. “They remain operational, albeit with serious attempts to disrupt their work.”