Africa-Press – South-Africa. Former police minister Bheki Cele never issued any instructions regarding the operations of the political killings task team (PKTT) in KwaZulu-Natal during his tenure from 2018.
This is according to crime intelligence head Lt-Gen Dumisani Khumalo, who appeared before the Madlanga commission of inquiry on Monday.
Khumalo was appointed as the PKTT KwaZulu-Natal project co-ordinator in 2018 and was later appointed as the task team project leader.
“There were no instructions that would come from the minister as chair of the interministerial committee,” Khumalo said. “They would receive progress reports from the PKTT on a continuous basis.”
The commission, established by President Cyril Ramaphosa, is investigating allegations of criminality, corruption and political interference in the criminal justice system made by KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.
Mkhwanazi accused SAPS top officials, including police minister Senzo Mchunu, of interfering in the PKTT cases, which led to its disbandment.
National police commissioner Gen Fannie Masemola and Maj-Gen Petronella van Rooyen of the SA Police Service (SAPS) legal division have both backed Mkhwanazi’s assertions that Mchunu did not have legal authority to disband the PKTT.
“The question is: was it a lawful instruction or direction? Did the minister have the power to direct or command the closure of the task team investigating crimes? In my view, it did not have that authority because it relates to the operations investigating cases and the operations of the police,” Van Rooyen said.
“The decision of the minister to close the task team fell outside the mandate or authority of the police minister.”
The commission’s hearings continue.
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