Questions have arisen over what interventions Police Minister Senzo Mchunu will put in place to address political killings which are particularly rampant in KwaZulu-Natal ahead of the 2026 local government elections.
This comes after the minister issued a directive last week for National Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Fannie Masemola to disband the task team into political killings.
Mchunu reasoned that based on his observations over the last few months, the further existence of this team is no longer required and is not adding value to policing in the country.
The Moerane Commission, established in 2016, investigated the underlying causes of political killings in KwaZulu-Natal and made comprehensive recommendations for addressing political violence in the province.
Following these recommendations, the inter-ministerial task team was formed in 2019 with the key mandate to stop, investigate, and resolve unresolved murders of politicians in the country, especially in KZN.
Political Party Responses
EFF provincial chairperson, Mongezi Twala, said the party noted the minister’s attempts at disbanding the political killings task unit and questioned whether the task team yielded positive results based on all the recommendations and findings of the Moerane Commission.
“We know that KZN province is popularly known for such political killings. Yes, it happens in other provinces, but I think in KZN, it’s one of the provinces where political killings happen a lot,” Twala said.
“Whenever there is time for electing councillors from various political parties, as per the findings of the Moerane Commission, that’s when these killings emerge.”
He said the EFF in the province still has more questions about the directive, including, “What will the police minister’s intervention be in curbing these political killings in the province?”
KwaZulu-Natal ANC spokesperson, Mafika Mndebele, said it might be premature to give a full response now because the communiqué by the minister calls for a preliminary report and then a final report towards the end of January.
Mndebele said this team was established as a result of a particular situation that was prevalent particularly in KwaZulu-Natal, which is no longer predominant.
“That closing report will then give us a picture of the real number of cases investigated, the number of cases successful, probably even the amount of funding that has been used in this particular regard which will then give us a complete picture,” he said.
Expert Analysis
Zakhele Ndlovu, a political science lecturer at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, said this directive is bizarre because the minister did not announce what would replace the unit to deal with this issue.
“We have local government elections coming up in 2026 and that’s where we’ve seen most of the assassinations or political killings. So it’s bizarre that he is disbanding it,” he said.
Ndlovu emphasised that the South African Police Service (SAPS) needs to beef up its crime intelligence.
“If we have an effective crime intelligence force in place, that could make a big difference in trying to scare people not to commit these crimes,” he said, adding that this speaks to a bigger issue in the country of people not fearing to break the law because there are no consequences.
Thabani Khumalo, an independent political analyst based in Durban, agrees that the public needs to know what this unit has achieved since its formation. “We haven’t been told what breakthroughs were achieved by this unit.”
Timing Concerns
Khumalo highlighted that most political killings took place before local government elections.
“Most of these killings were happening within the local government structure. Now it is disbanded months before the much anticipated local government elections, which are always involved in these political killings between councillors,” he said.
The decision to disband the task team comes at a crucial time when the province historically sees an increase in political violence, he said.
“Most of these killings were happening within the local government structure…Now it is disbanded months before the much anticipated local government elections, where there are always political killings between councillors,” he said.