The Madlanga Commission continues today at the Brigette Mabandla Justice College in Pretoria, with National Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola back on the stand.
Madlanga Commission: What to expect on Day 5
The Commission is investigating criminality, political interference, and corruption within the criminal justice system. It has become one of the most closely followed inquiries in South Africa, mainly because of the explosive allegations made by KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi last week.
On Monday, Masemola faced intense questioning for almost seven hours about why he allowed then-police minister Senzo Mchunu to issue an order to disband the KwaZulu-Natal Political Killings Task Team (PKTT).
Masemola admitted that he believed the order was an “encroachment” on his powers but said he complied because of political pressure.
Judge Mbuyiseli Madlanga, who chairs the commission, pressed him on this point:
“You have said on more than one occasion that any instruction to disband would be unlawful. Why did you fear an insubordination charge? Why did you not say, ‘Minister, this disbandment is unlawful. I cannot do a wind-up report’?”
Masemola struggled to justify his decision, eventually saying:
“He [Mchunu] said dis-establish immediately.”
Judge Madlanga shot back:
“Perhaps you should have qualified your answer this morning by answering us, ‘I will not obey an unlawful instruction unless the minister breathes down my neck’.”
The exchange was central to the tension between political authority and police independence. It also raised bigger questions about whether police leaders feel free to reject unlawful instructions from politicians.
Masemola’s testimony has also covered the successes of the Political Killings Task Team, which was launched in 2018 to investigate political murders in KwaZulu-Natal. He argued that the task team was effective, with high arrest and conviction rates, and was even asked to handle other cases like corruption at Fort Hare University and the killings of traditional leaders.
However, Mchunu claimed in his disbandment letter that the task team was “not adding value.” The contradiction between these views has become one of the central issues of the inquiry.
Today, Masemola is expected to continue explaining his version of events and address questions about possible corruption involving senior officers, as well as links between the police and organised crime figures.
Watch live: Commissioner Fannie Masemola resumes testimony
You can follow the live broadcast of Day 5 of the Madlanga Commission in the embedded video below. Proceedings start at 09:30 (SAST).