PKTT will continue work despite disbandment directive: Masemola

National Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola says the KwaZulu-Natal Political Killings Task Team (PKTT) will continue its work despite the embattled Police Minister Senzo Mchunu issuing a directive for its disbandment.

Masemola is testifying before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry in Pretoria for a second consecutive day. He details the contents of the letter he wrote to Mchunu.

He says the task team’s work was effective until it was disbanded at the order of the Minister.

Masemola says, “Despite him saying we must disband immediately, the cases will dictate how long the task team is going to be there. Meaning that as long as there are cases that are rolling, the task team will still be in existence, dealing with the cases.”

He adds, “The directive from the minister of police to disband he national task teams has been noted, the initial objective and directive by the President has been achieved with noticeable degrees in police killing in KwaZulu-Natal as a result the task team intervention and relentless pursuit of his mandate, South African Police Service remains responsible for finalisation of those dockets in possession of the task team as well as finalisation of dockets which are currently before court.”

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Masemola reveals that the Police Minister expressed frustration over the increasing workload of the Political Killings Task Team.

The rising number of cases, including a high-profile docket involving the murder of a ward councillor, reportedly caused tension despite arrests being made in connection with that case.

Masemola tells the Madlanga Commission that this was the first time he had seen a minister upset by the progress of the police, to the point that a meeting on 27 March this year ended abruptly.

Wind down PKTT

The Commissioner says, “The following steps are being taken to wind down the task team without compromising pending investigations or court processes. Stakeholder engagement will be conducted with the other external role players in the task teams, especially the NPA, which has dedicated capacity of prosecutors working in the team. The 128K dockets, which are under investigation and allocated to the task team, will be retained by the task team and investigations will be finalised. An audit will be done of all those dockets still under investigation in order to establish which dockets can be returned to the station of origin or allocated to other investigating units within SAPS.”