Senzo Mchunu Says ‘Disband’ Was The Wrong Word For Political Killings Task Team Shake-Up

Suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu told the commission on Friday that he misspoke when he instructed the “disbandment” of the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT) in December.

Mchunu said that, in hindsight, he should have chosen a different term as his aim was not to shut down the team but to restructure it within the Murder and Robbery Unit. He insisted that all PKTT members were meant to keep their positions.

His original directive drew sharp criticism, particularly from KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, who questioned whether the order was tied to the task team’s recent investigations into Gauteng’s criminal underworld.

Senzo Mchunu Explains the Intention Behind the Directive

Mchunu stressed to the commission that the word “disband” did not accurately reflect what he intended.

“The actual intention is you transform, you absorb, you are not throwing it away, you are not firing people,” he said during his testimony. “Practically what would happen is less of disbandment than actual disbandment.”[

He maintained that the directive was meant to streamline operations rather than dismantle a key investigative unit.

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Justifying his decision, Mchunu argued that South Africa’s murder crisis demands a wider, more integrated national strategy instead of focusing on specific categories.

“The national focus should now be on murders, all of them,” he concluded.

Mchunu is expected to wrap up his evidence before the commission later this evening.

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