President Cyril Ramaphosa says an action against suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu can only be taken after the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry finalises its work.
Image: Phando Jikelo / Parliament of SA
President Cyril Ramaphosa says he will wait for the final report from the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry to take action against suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu, who allegedly disbanded the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT) without his approval.
This is after Ramaphosa expressed his dissatisfaction about Mchunu’s decision in his written submission response to the Parliament Ad Hoc Committee on Tuesday.
The committee is currently investigating allegations of criminal infiltration, corruption and political interference in the justice system.
His submission followed a request from committee members for him to appear in person to provide clarity on several security-related matters.
However, he provided written responses after the committee agreed that he did not have to attend in person.
In his submission, the President denied any role in the disbandment of the PKTT, stating he was neither consulted nor did he approve the decision made by Mchunu.
This contradicts previous testimony from Mchunu, who claimed he had briefed Ramaphosa and received his concurrence.
Ramaphosa said that he only learned of Mchunu’s directive of December 31, 2024, to disband the PKTT from National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola on February 1, 2025.
He claimed that he did not intervene to reverse the directive because Masemola assured him that, despite Mchunu’s instruction, the unit would not be immediately dissolved to protect ongoing investigations.
Following explosive allegations made by KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi in July 2025, Ramaphosa established the Madlanga Commission and Ad Hoc Committee.
The allegations focused on the capture of Mchunu by criminal syndicates and his subsequent decision to disband the PKTT to protect criminal cartels.
Mchunu is currently on special leave while investigations continue.
Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, said that while the President has already accepted recommendations from an interim report, he maintains that a final decision on Mchunu would be made after the Madlanga Commission completed its work and released a final report.
“We have communicated many times that the President will make a decision on Minister Mchunu once he has a final report of the Madlanga Commission,” he said.
Mchunu’s spokesperson, Sithembiso Mshengu, declined to comment, indicating that the Minister has not seen the submission.
“The Minister was not a recipient of the Parliamentary Ad Hoc Committee responses from the President, and as such, he has no full knowledge or content of the questions posed and answers thereto. In short, the Minister has no comment for now,” Mshengu said.
In his final testimony before the committee, Mkhwanazi revealed that forensic investigators recovered the deleted draft of the disbandment letter from Mchunu’s iPad, confirming that the Minister personally authored it.
He added that the disbandment of the PKTT, ordered by Mchunu without consulting Masemola, had effectively halted critical investigations into political syndicates and left the Crime Intelligence division leaderless for nearly a year.
Meanwhile, Ramaphosa faces criticism over a perceived lack of decisive action against Mchunu.
Political analyst and governance expert Sandile Swana said if Ramaphosa was indeed dissatisfied with Mchunu’s decision, he should have acted immediately instead of waiting for Mkhwanazi to spill the beans.
Swana said Ramaphosa’s tendency was to claim he was not aware.
“This is a big scandal in the country and the President has not acted decisively in firing Mchunu, although he knows that Mchunu acted outside of his lawful powers,” said Swana.
Another political analyst, Ntsikelelo Breakfast, said the decision to disband the PKTT is 'too big to be made without the knowledge of the President'.
manyane.manyane@inl.co.za