Suspended police minister Senzo Mchunu. Photo: Delwyn Verasamy
Deputy Police Minister Cassel Mathale was not consulted before suspended police minister Senzo Mchunu disbanded the KwaZulu-Natal political killings task team, he told parliament’s police ad hoc committee this week.
This added to the number of government officials who were not consulted before the task team was disbanded in December 2024.
Evidence leader Norman Arendse asked if Mathale or his co-deputy Police Minister, Polly Boshielo, were consulted.
“Of course, he didn’t consult. The only time that he spoke to me was after the letter was out and he was saying, ‘Yes, I’ve penned the letter, don’t be surprised,’” Mathale said.
Mathale said Mchunu’s December 2024 directive to “immediately” disband the task team and submit a closure report within a month, as ordered in the letter, was “not practical” and was “unusual” and “problematic”.
“It was very difficult to really put my thoughts together as to what was happening to him to craft the letter in the manner that he did,” Mathale said.
“I don’t know what was going through his mind and the circumstances he was in when he penned the letter.”
Mathale joins the growing list of officials who have indicated they were unaware of Mchunu’s order.
Although he described his letter as administrative and within his powers, Mchunu admitted to the ad hoc committee he had not consulted President Cyril Ramaphosa, who called for the establishment of the task team in 2018 to tackle politically related murders.
National police commissioner Fannie Masemola was not consulted by Mchunu. Masemola told the ad hoc committee he was on leave when Mchunu sent the letter to have the KZN task team disbanded.
On Tuesday, Mathale said he learnt about Mchunu’s decision on social media, adding Mchunu phoned “in early January to say that the letter that is circulating, he wrote the letter”.
Mathale said he first dismissed it as fake news, but when he “later realised it’s true”, he “didn’t understand what could have motivated him to pen such a letter in the manner that he did”.
KwaZulu-Natal commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi appeared before the Madlanga commission and parliament’s ad hoc committee, where he stated the intention of Mchunu’s controversial statement was to protect Gauteng-based cartels.
Masemola has supported Mkhwanazi’s claims, both at the commission and before parliament, adding he had advocated for a phased-out approach instead of an immediate shutdown as ordered. He said this proposal was rejected.
Head of crime intelligence Dumisani Khumalo presented WhatsApp messages at the commission implicating North West businessman Brown Mogotsi, believed to be Mchunu’s associate, who acted as a middleman with murder suspect and alleged leader of the ‘Big Five” cartel, Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala.
Mchunu’s deputy told the ad hoc committee that he didn’t question the police minister for taking a strong stand against the task KZN team, noting it was a stance he was not afraid to communicate within the police network.
However, Mathale said the task team had been doing a good job and he saw no reason why Mchunu had singled it out.
“The effectiveness of the team is not in question; they did an excellent job. Since they were instituted, [there has been] progress around killings of activists, what we might call political killings, that took place,” Mathale said.
“In fact, their effectiveness has never been an issue that was questioned within the space.”
Mathale said he attended two briefings in KZN held by the task team, adding from the last briefing in March 2024 — three months before Mchunu’s appointment, he “didn’t get an impression that there are problems around the team”. He said, “I think everybody was happy with what was presented and what they were doing.”
Mathale told the commission he often highlighted the need for Mchunu and national commissioner Masemola to communicate and align before making presentations in meetings or making decisions.
“There are many instances where we’ve had meetings and agreed that the two of them must have engagement outside ourselves because the absence of that will lead to misunderstanding amongst them, which can create a problem for us. And we are here now because of that,” Mathale said.
He worked “extremely well” with former police minister Bheki Cele, who told the ad hoc committee that his successor, Mchunu, had not not consulted him before disbanding the task team and did not respond to subsequent requests for a meeting.
Mathale noted he had brief discussions with Mchunu about the structure and the need to strengthen the police force’s capacity to reduce the need for task teams. The discussions were not specific to the political killing task team, but rather about ways to strengthen internal capacity within the murder and robbery unit.
“It is in this context that the issues we discussed around the [task team] took place,” he said.
Mchunu has argued that his directive was implementing a police work research study which recommended the disbandment of the KZN task team. He said his plans were to enhance the murder and robbery unit with task team personnel.
Mathale told the ad hoc committee that current difficulties within the South African Police Service did not mean it was in disarray — “it’s intact and able to carry out its responsibilities”.
However, he said there were “individuals” within the police service who were “problematic”.