ActionSA MP Dereleen James has criticised national police commissioner Gen Fannie Masemola for not standing up to police minister Senzo Mchunu over his directive to disband the political killings task team (PKTT).
On December 31, Mchunu sent Masemola a letter instructing him to disband the task team, informing him the services of the task team would no longer be required and were of no value in fighting crime.
According to Maj-Gen Petronella van Rooyen of the SAPS legal division, Mchunu did not have a legal mandate to disband the PKTT.
In a fiery exchange in parliament’s ad hoc committee investigating allegations of corruption in the criminal justice system, James questioned Masemola on why he did not challenge Mchunu’s directive.
“Why didn’t you tell the minister directly that his instruction was unlawful?” James asked.
Masemola responded by saying he had tried to engage Mchunu over his decision several times but was unable to reach him, emphasising that he was against the disbandment of the PKTT.
“Quite a number of times I asked the minister why he was closing the team, and he gave no reasons,” Masemola said.
“The directive was not a request; it was a clear instruction. I tried to find out the reasons, but I couldn’t get answers.
“I did everything I could. I engaged him several times, and he shut the door.”
He said he came up with an alternative wind-down approach to try to get reasons for the disbandment of the team because the directive looked “suspicious” to him.
“I did the best I could alone. If I’m to be blamed, that’s OK, but I did my best. As we speak today [Friday], the team is still in existence.”
However, James was not happy with Masemola’s efforts.
“Anyone holding the position of national commissioner should be beyond reproach. Your response does not reflect that, because you’re speaking about winding down. That is not beyond reproach. Why winding down? Is that not ultimately giving in to the minister? That is allowing political interference in operational matters.
“The minister made the wrong decision; you should have stood up to it, and you didn’t. That’s a problem for South Africa.”
During the Madlanga commission of inquiry, crime intelligence boss Lt-Gen Dumisani Khumalo revealed WhatsApp messages between Brown Mogotsi and Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala to prove that drug cartels have infiltrated the criminal justice system. He showed that Matlala allegedly paid hundreds of thousands of rand to Mogotsi to fund ANC events.
James raised concerns about law enforcement officials allegedly allowing ANC members to get away with wrongdoing.
“The ANC minister wanted to put a stop to investigations pertaining to the drug cartels that have captured our country. We need to identify where the rot comes from. We need to understand who the enablers are.
“We are not here to play games. These are ANC members, and we must name them. You didn’t protect South Africans; you exposed us to drug cartels.”
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