Sidelined Police Minister Senzo Mchunu testified before the Madlanga Commission on December 2, 2025, defending his decision to disband the National Political Killings Task Team as an inevitable step for an interim unit. He argued the team, established in 2018, was never meant to be permanent and had operated irregularly beyond 2022. The testimony comes amid allegations of political interference and links to criminal figures.
On December 2, 2025, Police Minister Senzo Mchunu, who has been on special leave since July 2025, appeared before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry to justify disbanding the National Political Killings Task Team (NPKTT) on December 31, 2024. The commission is investigating claims of criminality, political interference, and corruption in law enforcement, sparked by KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi's allegations against top officials.
Mchunu, appointed in July 2024, emphasized that the NPKTT was created in 2018 as a temporary project under the South African Police Service (SAPS), sanctioned by then-National Commissioner Khehla Sitole on June 26, 2019. It focused on serial murders, police killings, political murders, and farm attacks. A 2019 work study recommended integrating it into the Murder and Robbery Unit, arguing against maintaining a separate structure to avoid operational overlaps.
"The NPKTT was a project. It was always understood to be interim, temporary in nature; it was never at any stage understood to be a permanent kind of set-up," Mchunu said. He noted assessments occurred every six months, with extensions approved until 2022, but none afterward, making its funding irregular under the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA). National Commissioner Fannie Masemola signed a 2024 organogram to absorb the team, though he later expressed surprise at Mchunu's unilateral directive on New Year's Eve while on leave.
Mkhwanazi alleged Mchunu disbanded the team to protect Vusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala, facing attempted murder charges and linked to a R360-million police tender, via intermediary Brown Mogotsi, a claimed Crime Intelligence operative. Matlala testified he funded Mchunu's ANC campaign events with R150,000 to R200,000 for protection. Mchunu denied any links, stating Mogotsi was "just a comrade" and he never requested or received favors. He also rejected using encrypted apps like Signal or interfering in operations, including arrests.
During Katiso 'KT' Molefe's December 6, 2024, arrest for engineer Armand Swart's murder, Molefe claimed friendship with Mchunu, which the minister denied. Mchunu briefed President Cyril Ramaphosa, who concurred, and insisted this was his first corruption accusation despite prior public roles. He will face cross-examination on December 4 and 5, 2025.
Security expert Kholofelo Rakubu described Mchunu's testimony as a strategic bureaucratic justification, citing the 2019 study to frame the decision as administrative, though witnesses have called it an overstep.
