PKTT
Suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu told the Madlanga Commission that his decision to disband the Political Killings Task Team was driven by principle and pragmatism — not emotion. He argued the unit had long outlived its mandate and resources needed to be redeployed to address broader national crime.
Suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu has urged the public and the inquiry to look beyond emotional responses and sensational headlines as he defends his decision to disband the Political Killings Task Team. Speaking before the Madlanga Commission on Tuesday, he said he accepted the burden of a deeply unpopular decision because he was “appointed for honesty, not sentiment.”
Mchunu outlined his rationale, saying the PKTT had long outlived its original purpose. He told the commission that the special task team was intended only as a temporary measure when it was established. Continued reliance on the unit, he said, violated principles of budgeting and accountability, especially given that its performance had not been properly assessed since 2022.
He argued that the resources committed to the PKTT could no longer be justified given South Africa’s evolving crime landscape. According to Mchunu, national policing must respond to a wider array of crimes affecting ordinary citizens, not only politically motivated killings concentrated in one province. The focus, he told the commission, needed to shift to a more broadly capacitated policing model that serves all South Africans.
Mchunu also rejected suggestions that the disbandment served to protect criminal syndicates or political elites. He denied any such links and insisted the decision was a matter of public interest and structural reform rather than clandestine manoeuvring.
He admitted, however, that the disbandment order was issued without prior briefing to the national commissioner — a point that has drawn sharp criticism from police leadership and oversight bodies. The National Police Commissioner has described the move as “suspicious and questionable.”
