‘False narrative and encroachment’ — Masemola on Mchunu’s sudden Political Killings Task Team disbandment

Senzo Mchunu, South Africa’s police minister at the time, approved National Commissioner Fannie Masemola’s festive season annual leave last year.

And the day after Masemola went on leave, on 31 December 2024, Mchunu signed off on a controversial directive to have KwaZulu-Natal’s Political Killings Task Team (PKTT) disbanded.

“It looks like it happened by design that I was on leave,” Masemola told the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry on Monday, 22 September 2025.

He is the second witness to testify since the inquiry began last week.

‘Unexpected and perplexing’

Masemola said Mchunu had never expressed to him any “dissatisfaction or unhappiness” about the PKTT.

“This lack of prior warning made the subsequent developments all the more unexpected and perplexing,” he said.

A large part of Masemola’s testimony on Monday related to the PKTT.

He also referred to Shadrack Sibiya, the recently suspended deputy commissioner of crime detection, saying the “unsubstantiated allegations” that Sibiya had links to criminal suspects were under investigation.

Sibiya has denied wrongdoing in relation to another part of this saga.

Read more: Mkhwanazi alleges SA’s new capture — malicious corruption-busters and classified intelligence leaks

Last week, KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi testified as the Madlanga Commission’s first witness.

The commission was established to investigate allegations he initially made during a press conference in July.

In his testimony Mkhwanazi detailed various alleged plots, involving intelligence leaks and malicious investigators, to disrupt investigations into a criminal syndicate with deep state links.

He also testified about the PKTT, saying Mchunu appeared to have been influenced to disband it.

This would have benefited criminals under the impression that the PKTT was investigating them.

‘False narrative’

Masemola testified on Monday that the PKTT started its work in 2018, was successful in its mandate and had “an unmatched success rate”.

Political killings were complex cases so the work the PKTT did was necessary.

Masemola explained that political killings usually involved someone ordering a hit and needing to source a hitman. A firearm or firearms needed to be accessed as well, and these had to be channelled to the hitman.

Masemola said that when the PKTT was directed to focus on specific crimes, there would be developments in those cases.

“They’re bound to make a breakthrough,” he said.

Read more: Madlanga Commission | Day 4: Judge grills Masemola on why he obeyed an unlawful instruction from Mchunu

But based on a letter referenced during the commission last week, Mchunu ordered that the PKTT be “disestablished” because it was not “adding any value to policing in South Africa”. That was on 31 December 2024.

During Monday’s proceedings, Masemola said: “The narrative that the PKTT was not efficient is completely false.”

He had been astonished when he received Mchunu’s directive to disband it. 

Molefe and Matlala

Masemola was of the view that Mchunu, who is on special leave over the accusations levelled against him, overstepped his mandate when signing off the directive to disband the task team.

He viewed this as a “total encroachment” on his job as national commissioner.

Masemola also provided some insight into what happened in the run-up to the PKTT disbandment directive.

In 2024, 10 PKTT members were dispatched to help an organised crime investigating unit in Gauteng.

On 6 December, that team arrested Katiso Molefe in connection with the April 2024 murder in Vereeniging of engineer Armand Swart who was shot after the company he worked for unearthed corruption related to Transnet contracts.

That same day, the team looking into information about a businessman’s kidnapping searched the home of Vusi “Cat” Matlala, who has since been arrested in an attempted murder case.

(Mkhwanazi, at his July press conference, alleged that Matlala was financially supporting Mchunu’s political ambitions.)

Masemola testified on Monday that a source had subsequently alleged that Matlala and Sibiya were “close”.

This allegation had not been officially confirmed.

The source had also alleged that Matlala was effectively one of Masemola’s deputies, such was Matlala’s proximity to policing matters.

Annual leave

A few weeks after Molefe was arrested and Matlala’s house was searched, Masemola was set to go on leave from 30 December 2024 to 14 January.

Mchunu had signed off on this.

Two days before Masemola’s leave started, he attended a funeral at which Mchunu was also present.

Mchunu had not discussed any concerns about the PKTT with Masemola.

Read more: ‘Someone influenced’ Senzo Mchunu to disband Political Killings Task Team, Mkhwanazi tells commission

Mchunu’s directive to disband the PKTT was dated a day after Masemola’s leave started.

Last week, Mkhwanazi testified that he found out about the PKTT’s disbandment in a WhatsApp from a friend on 2 January 2025.

Masemola told the commission on Monday that Mkhwanazi had contacted him wanting to know what was happening and Masemola told him that he had “nothing to do with the disbandment”.

To try to sort out the matter, Masemola said he approached President Cyril Ramaphosa who said he would speak to Mchunu. 

Masemola testified that he “never really” got a reason from Mchunu as to why he wanted the PKTT disbanded.

‘Inconsistent’

Earlier during Monday’s proceedings Masemola said that as the national police commissioner, if he was told to follow an unlawful instruction, he would not.

Mchunu’s directive had effectively been viewed as unlawful.

Masemola also testified that he realised he could not simply stop Mchunu, so he suggested phasing out the PKTT instead of abruptly disbanding it.

The commission’s chief evidence leader, advocate Terry Motau SC, pointed out that Masemola’s stance was “inconsistent” with his previous statement that he would not follow an unlawful order.

And the commission’s chair, Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, said that even though Masemola had testified earlier that he would not obey an unlawful instruction, it seemed that he had relented in the end.

Madlanga said it therefore seemed that Masemola should amend his earlier answer to: “I would not obey an unlawful instruction unless the minister breathes down my neck.”

Masemola made it clear that the PKTT was never actually disbanded.

He is expected to continue testifying when the commission resumes on Tuesday, 23 September. DM