The sudden axing of the KwaZulu-Natal Political Killings Task Team (PKTT) on 31 December 2024 was so unexpected that it felt “like being struck by lightning”, a senior investigator told the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry on Monday.
Lieutenant-Colonel Ntate Khumalo, one of the unit’s key members, described the psychological and operational fallout after national police headquarters ordered the immediate disbandment of the specialised team and the transfer of all 121 political assassination dockets to Pretoria in March 2025.
“It damaged them, it left scars,” Khumalo testified. “Some members were out working on the 31st when the letter surfaced. If you’re with a witness or a person of interest and they see this, they tell you, ‘awusuke la, mfowethu — there’s no case.’”
The witness explained that the abrupt closure sent a message to suspects and vulnerable witnesses that the investigations were effectively over, undermining years of trust-building in one of South Africa’s most dangerous policing environments.
The commission, chaired by Justice Sisi Khampepe and commonly referred to as the Madlanga Commission after its original appointee, is investigating the handling of political killings in KwaZulu-Natal.
Khumalo further revealed that when SAPS head office conducted an audit of the seized dockets, two case files were initially unaccounted for. Although the missing dockets were later located in the returned batch – apparently overlooked because they were stored in thinner “slim folders” – the incident highlighted administrative chaos following the shutdown.
The PKTT had been widely regarded as one of the few effective units tackling the province’s wave of politically linked assassinations, with several high-profile cases either in court or ready for trial in early 2025 at the time of its dissolution.
The inquiry continues.