KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lt‑Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi delivered explosive testimony to parliament on Wednesday, saying WhatsApp messages linked to the disbandment of the political killings task team (PKTT) were now under criminal investigation and warned that public disclosures of classified material had compromised operational safety.
The second day of the sitting of the ad hoc committee opened with procedural clarifications on question order and participation, after DA MP Dianne Kohler Barnard confirmed she was attending virtually and the DA said it had sought legal advice on any recusal request.
ANC MP Xola Nqola opened substantive questioning by asking whether the ministerial directive disbanding the PKTT was lawful. Mkhwanazi replied that while the letter itself was not unlawful, it exercised powers not delegated to the minister and amounted to the removal of a functioning investigative capability.
He confirmed he was the complainant in a criminal inquiry into “defeat of the ends of justice” and, when asked who may have influenced the minister’s decision, pointed to WhatsApp exchanges between the minister and his chief of staff now under investigation.
ANC MP Thokozile Sokanyile asked whether the minister had jurisdiction to disband the PKTT and whether the task team had been assessed before its closure. Mkhwanazi said the unit had been established by the national commissioner and its disbandment should have followed the same chain of command. He criticised the minister for targeting one task team without evaluating its operational value, and said the interministerial committee on political killings had last met in September, with no continuity between terms.
‘The highest infiltration you can think of’
MK party MP David Skosana asked whether President Cyril Ramaphosa had been informed of the directive and Mkhwanazi said he had not been, noting that the president had publicly praised the PKTT after its media briefing.
Skosana also asked about Brown Mogotsi’s presence at a classified meeting, and Mkhwanazi responded that Mogotsi’s access to police operations constituted “the highest infiltration you can think of”. He identified a pattern in which Crime Intelligence (CI) records and payments extended into political campaign activity, warning publication of such material could have destabilising consequences. Mkhwanazi reiterated concerns about the safety of investigators and the inability to guarantee his family’s security.
Mkhwanazi renewed allegations that the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (Idac) had a bifurcated structure, with a component he described as “rogue”, and singled out certain personnel involved in the arrest of Maj-Gen Dumisani Khumalo. He told MPs the June arrest of Khumalo formed part of a counterintelligence operation aimed at undermining a Gauteng drug investigation, and complained about a magistrate’s bail condition barring Khumalo from CI offices, describing it as “not coincidental”.
On specific personnel and conduct, Mkhwanazi named Vusimusi “Cat” Matlala and Katiso Molefe among those already arrested and said other actors in what he called a “big syndicate” are known to investigators but would not be named in open session.
He alleged CI officers had been recruited into criminal networks and asserted that some police-funded benefits, including salaries for farm workers, had been paid from CI funds — a practice he said began in 2020 and continued.
The commissioner repeated a historical allegation linking an introduction facilitated by former SAPS member Cedric Nkabinde to Senzo Mchunu and asked the committee to subpoena contemporaneous Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) records; he said he possessed WhatsApp messages and other contemporaneous communications that informed his account but did not make those messages public in open session. He declined to name a prosecutor, magistrates or other officials he said were implicated where disclosure would require in‑camera handling.
Unsecured disclosures
Mkhwanazi criticised public commentary on investigative material and again raised the risk of unsecured disclosures. He accused some MPs and journalists of publishing operational details, asserted that safe‑house photographs and other material had appeared in the public domain, and told the committee the State Security Agency should examine certain published items. He acknowledged he had no direct evidence that any MP had taken photographs himself.
Questioning proceeded under tension about procedure and the committee’s remit. MPs from across the house pressed Mkhwanazi on whether the president was aware of the ministerial decision, the role of senior SAPS officials in transfers of dockets and the interaction between Idac and prosecutorial authorities. Mkhwanazi said the president had publicly praised the PKTT and that, in his view, the president was not informed of the directive he attributes to the minister.
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