President Cyril Ramaphosa’s statement to parliament this week, that he did not give on-special-leave police minister Senzo Mchunu permission to disband the political killings task team (PKTT), as Mchunu had claimed, should represent a hammer blow to Mchunu’s hopes of returning to the cabinet. And it raises questions about Ramaphosa’s leadership in not being seen to act decisively against a minister who has evidently played fast and loose with the truth.
According to Mchunu, he issued the directive to disband the PKTT on the night of December 31 2024. He claimed then to have received advice from his special adviser, an advocate. “He had no doubt that it is within the constitution and within the legislative framework,” Mchunu told parliament’s ad hoc committee probing the matter in parallel with, but independently of, the Madlanga commission of inquiry.
“It’s in the affidavit; I briefed the president and he agreed with the briefing,” he said.
The advice Mchunu claims to have received, which he says allowed him to disband the PKTT, appears at odds with the fact that the PKTT was established in 2018 at the behest of Ramaphosa. Its work was to be carried out under the aegis of an interministerial committee (IMC) of the cabinet. Mchunu’s claim, suggesting the IMC had lapsed because it was a product of the sixth administration, and not the seventh formed after the May 2024 elections, hardly seems logical given that the PKTT’s existence was a matter of national importance. Why else would it have been formed?
Mchunu has all along insisted that his decision was based on reports that concluded the PKTT was not giving value for money, and had nothing to do with granting a favour to criminal elements, among them alleged underworld boss Vusimusi “Cat” Matlala. However, testimony to the Madlanga probe and the ad hoc committee suggested Mchunu’s move benefited the criminal syndicates and that Matlala, for one, expressed strong interest in the PKTT being disbanded as soon as was possible.
The long-suffering public following the proceedings of the two inquiries must wonder just how committed the government is to fighting crime
Instead of firing Mchunu when KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi made his bombshell disclosures at a press conference in July 2025, or at least later when Mchunu offered his rebuttal, which Ramaphosa now characterises as a lie, the president took the unusual step of putting him on special leave and replacing him with Firoz Cachalia in an acting role. Special leave, special treatment.
Given the suggestion at the time that Ramaphosa viewed Mchunu as a possible presidential successor, or at least as a close ally in the factional battles raging in the ANC, the impression was created that he was protecting Mchunu for personal political reasons.
It is a great pity that Ramaphosa was not called to appear before the ad hoc committee but was allowed to make a written submission, as it might have presented an opportunity for the nation to better understand his thinking on Mchunu and other issues probed by the committee.
The long-suffering public following the proceedings of the two inquiries must wonder just how committed the government is to fighting crime, with a succession of top police figures admitting to helping criminals in return for cash and other inducements.
Mchunu has to be fired forthwith. His continued stay in government tarnishes the reputation of both his office and that of the executive — something Ramaphosa must seriously take into account. Strong and decisive action must be taken to clean up the police force. An indication of the structure and modalities thereof, including legal or constitutional reforms, should come from the Madlanga commission and parliament’s ad hoc committee when they have finished their proceedings.
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