Deputy police minister Polly Boshielo says the disbanding of the political killings task team was handled without adequate consultation and should serve as “a case study on how not to manage” a critical state institution.
The deputy minister appeared before parliament’s ad hoc committee on Tuesday and Wednesday.
She confirmed that while her boss, minister Senzo Mchunu, had the constitutional authority to issue the directive, the absence of engagement with the national commissioner and those directly responsible for the unit undermined due process.
Boshielo testified that she first became aware of the directive through social media and initially believed it to be inauthentic.
She said the letter was not sent to her directly, and she only received confirmation from Mchunu in January.
By then, she explained, the decision had already been implemented, leaving no scope for her to influence its content or timing. She added that she would have drafted the communication differently had she been consulted.
The deputy minister said the president appointed ministers and deputy ministers in terms of section 91 of the constitution, and that they account collectively and individually to parliament under section 92.
She confirmed that no performance assessments had been conducted in the past year, attributing this to the absence of formal delegations from the minister. She said she had often raised the lack of a performance plan with Mchunu but had not escalated the matter in parliament, believing other processes were available.
On the broader question of interministerial committees, Boshielo stated it was her understanding that new committees had to be constituted with each administration. This contrasted with former minister Bheki Cele’s earlier assertion that such committees do not lapse.
The committee noted the procedural uncertainty, which has implications for the continuity of executive co-ordination mechanisms.
Boshielo confirmed she and fellow deputy minister Cassel Mathale had raised concerns with Mchunu and national commissioner Fannie Masemola about insufficient communication within the ministry.
They had suggested structured engagements with senior officers, including Lt-Gen Shadrack Sibiya and Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi. She said the July media briefing by Mkhwanazi, in which he made remarks linking individuals outside the police to internal disputes, had surprised her, as the issues had not been raised in prior meetings.
On procurement matters, Boshielo testified that a contract awarded in June 2024 to a company linked to businessman Cat Matlala was later cancelled following an audit report. She confirmed that supply chain management officials had initially found the company compliant, but that Mchunu insisted the tender be stopped.
She said he “may have had his own reasons” but did not elaborate. She stressed that the national commissioner, as accounting officer, and the minister, as executive authority, had to work together on such matters.
Responding to questions on allegations of unauthorised procurement of surveillance equipment, Boshielo said she had received messages from Sibiya, which she forwarded to Masemola. She testified that Masemola assured her the claims were untrue and that the matter was referred to the National Intelligence Co-ordinating Committee and the State Security Agency. She said she never believed her communications were being intercepted.
Boshielo described the deputy ministerial role as a “layer of strategic support” without executive functions, noting that while ministers had not formally delineated functions, she and Mathale had undertaken responsibilities such as attending parliamentary and interministerial committees.
She contrasted Mchunu’s management style with that of acting minister Firoz Cachalia, who delegated responsibilities on gender-based violence and crime strategy and included her in an official delegation to China to assess policing technology.
Committee members pressed Boshielo on whether divisions in the police amounted to formalised factions.
She replied that while tensions existed, they reflected differences in approach rather than entrenched groupings.
She acknowledged that the institution had not been transformed as it should have been, with the “old order” and “new order” coexisting uneasily.
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