Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo testified on Wednesday before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry that he was never consulted on Police Minister Senzo Mchunu’s controversial decision to disband the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT) and freeze all positions within Crime Intelligence.
Appearing under oath, Khumalo detailed his reaction to a letter issued by Mchunu in December 2024, which instructed National Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola to immediately dissolve the PKTT by 31 December and halt the filling of all posts in the division.
“I disowned the letter from the first [of January], when it started trending, up until the 14th [of January], when we received it officially,” Khumalo told the commission. He explained that Masemola was on leave when the directive was sent and only returned to duty in mid-January, delaying any formal response.
Khumalo emphasized that neither he nor his office had any prior knowledge of the minister’s instructions. “I was not consulted on anything that was contained in the letter,” he stated.
The letter first surfaced in the media in early January 2025, sparking widespread speculation about its authorship. Mchunu later clarified before Parliament’s ad hoc committee that he personally drafted the document and was “sober-minded” at the time.
The sudden disbandment of the PKTT – a specialized unit investigating politically motivated assassinations, particularly in KwaZulu-Natal – has raised concerns about the impact on ongoing high-profile cases. The simultaneous freeze on Crime Intelligence vacancies has further fueled criticism over operational capacity within the division.