It did not make sense: SAPS general questions timing of KZN political killings unit’s shutdown

A senior police officer has told the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry that it “did not make sense” to disband the KwaZulu-Natal Political Killings Task Team (PKTT) ahead of next year’s local government elections, given the province’s history of heightened violence during election periods.

"It would not make sense to disband the PKTT immediately unless the stakeholders had advised the minister that immediate disbandment would be appropriate. Having said that, I do not necessarily agree that the PKTT was more successful than any other team investigating the same types of crimes,” she said.

Major-General Mary Motsepe, head of the SAPS Serious and Violent Crimes component, made the remarks on Monday while testifying about the handling of 121 political-murder dockets that were removed from KwaZulu-Natal, audited in Pretoria and later returned to the province.

"I also do not agree that the PKTT should have been disbanded before the upcoming elections. It is a well-known fact that KZN has the highest incidence of political killings, and there is usually a spike in politically motivated killings before elections,” she said.

Motsepe said she was not consulted on the decision to dismantle the specialised unit, which followed a December 2024 directive issued by then police minister Senzo Mchunu.

"I do not know if the minister had the authority to disband the PKTT. However, even if the minister had the authority to disband the PKTT, he had to first consult with all the relevant stakeholders, which would have included me as the component responsible for serious and violent crimes,” Motsepe said.

Her testimony formed part of a broader inquiry into the movement, management and apparent stagnation of more than 120 politically related dockets. She confirmed that the files were brought to national headquarters in March for auditing, only returning to the provincial task team in August.

Motsepe said the audit revealed significant shortcomings, including failures to arrest suspects who had been identified by witnesses, non-compliance with prosecutors’ instructions and cases being left inactive for years.

“Four cases were found nolle prosequi because the public prosecutor’s instructions were not complied with,” she said.

She added that in one matter a witness withdrew out of fear after a suspect was granted bail.

The commission also heard that the high-profile murder case of Eastern Cape woman Namhla Mtwa was among the dockets that lay “gathering dust” during the four months in Pretoria. Motsepe said the case was initially handled by her office, then transferred to the PKTT in October 2023, but the arrest operation planned for this year was halted after the suspect twice applied for interdicts.

Meanwhile, former PKTT commander Ntate Khumalo told the commission he was given only 24 hours to gather 118 of the dockets for transfer to Pretoria in March. “It was messy,” he said, adding that the rushed process made a proper handover impossible.

KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi previously told the commission that the dockets had been removed from the PKTT to the office of the suspended deputy commissioner, where they remained unattended.