KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner is grilled in parliament on accusations against the minister
During the hearing by parliament’s ad hoc on police corruption, MPs sidestepped the suspended minister’s role in the infiltration of the criminal justice system by cartels
The KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner said Mkhwanazi told the parliament committee that several officers who served in the task team on political killings had since been arrested for corruption and other crimes
Further details linking suspended police minister Senzo Mchunu to cartel figures emerged
National police commissioner Fannie Masemola said Khumalo was ‘in good spirits and taking health advice from his physician’
The Madlanga commission heard testimony about text messages between Mokgotsi and Matlala that detailed payments to the suspended police minister, manipulation of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate and the sharing of classified information
Crime intelligence boss Dumisani Khumalo told the Madlanga commission that text messages from cartel leader Vusimuzi ‘Cat’ Matlala exposed links to ANC politics and police interference.
He said organised crime thrived through police infiltration and political interference behind the disbandment of the political killings task team
The inquiry heard this happened when the team closed in on syndicates tied to murder suspects
The national police commissioner concluded his testimony on Tuesday linking murder suspects Katiso Molefe and Vusimuzi ‘Cat’ Matlala to the police minister
The national police commissioner said the political killings task team is still in operation with no clarity on its disbandment
Masemola told the Madlanga commission the disbandment process was ‘by design’ and had begun while he was on leave
Masemola was questioned about whether a police commissioner could refuse directives from the police minister and initially said it depended on the nature of the directive