Suspended police minister Senzo Mchunu has insisted he personally decided to disband the KwaZulu-Natal Political Killings Task Team, saying he acted soberly and took responsibility for the directive while citing complaints about the unit's conduct and alleged breaches of public finance rules..
He admitted that he did not consult with General Fannie Masemola, Lt Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi and Lt Gen Dumisani Khumalo when he made the decision to disband the PKTT, although he said he had many meetings of a policy nature with SAPS senior management in the few months he had been in office as police minister.
He confirmed instructing his chief of staff to make secret audio records of meetings with Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi to protect the ministry against false allegations. The recordings were allegedly unlawful as Mkhwanazi was not aware he was being recorded, but the minister was not afraid to use such audio recordings at the ad hoc committee.
However, his audio recordings, which were claimed to include a threat from Mkhwanazi, were a damp squib as the alleged threats were not audible in the recordings provided to the ad hoc committee. Mchunu has been asked to re-furnish the alleged threatening recordings next week.
Mchunu also insisted to the ad hoc committee that President Cyril Ramaphosa had approved the disbandment of the PKTT, while some testimony suggested mixed awareness at higher testimony suggested mixed awareness at higher levels of government.
Senior counsel and MPs pressed the minister for clarity, but he insisted the president agreed to the decision, despite the senior counsel's interpretation of the events suggesting that the president had merely noted the briefing from the minister in a brief encounter shared by the two.