By Lesedi Sibiya-Diplomatic Insider
Suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu will appear in parliament on Friday to address the allegations made against him against Police Commissioner of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi in a press briefing in July 2025.
In July 2025, Mkhwanazi blew the whistle on the disgraced Police Minister over disbanding a task team that was assigned to investigate a series of politically motivated killings as well as being linked to several crime syndicates.
The task team which was established in 2018 after the murder of Musawenkosi Mchunu. The task team was set up to operate nationally despite their focus being in KZN because of the rapid political violence that transpired in the province.
The task team was tasked with investigating 600 dockets and more than 50 of those being related to politically motivated killings.
According to evidence presented by the Madlanga Commission along with testimonies from Mkhwanazi and the parliamentary committee, Senzo Mchunu had sent a letter on 31 December 2025 to disband the task team.
This order sent by Mchunu was not taken kindly by Mkhwanazi and made claims that the disbandment of the task team was due to protecting heavily connected and powerful syndicates who also had big connections with senior police officials.
According to the parliamentary committee terms of reference “Political interference within SAPS: Executive oversight versus operational interference by Minister Mchunu” which includes disbanding the task team as prohibiting the filling of vacancies in the Crime Intelligence sector of SAPS.
Mchunu will also be the first politician that will testify at the parliamentary hearings and is following Lt-Gen Mkhwanazi, National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola and suspended Deputy National Police Commissioner Shadrack Sibiya.
Some of the questions he will be expected to answer is why did Mchunu disband the task team so suddenly.
Mkhwanazi claimed that someone was behind the minister’s decision to disband the task team as well as Masemola claiming that the decision was “unexpected and perplexing” claiming that there was never any indication that the police minister had any prior problems with the task team.
Masemola also claimed that he and the Police Minister had no prior discussion about disbanding the task team even though Masemola and Mchunu had met several days before the abrupt decision was made.
He will most likely be asked who he had consulted on making the decision of disbanding the task team, as Masemola gave a testimony that Mchunu had received support from President Cyril Ramaphosa to make this decision, however Masemola expressed his doubt over this claim made by Mchunu.