“He Was Captured”: Mkhwanazi Tells Parliament Mchunu Authored PKTT Shutdown Letter

• Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi told Parliament that suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu personally authored the letter disbanding the Political Killings Task Team
• Mkhwanazi further said he believed Mchunu was “captured” into doing so
• He said forensic evidence links the letter to Mchunu, while alleging broader political and institutional interference within SAPS and the prosecutorial system

PRETORIA —KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi has doubled down on his claims against suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu, telling Parliament that Mchunu personally wrote the letter that shut down the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT). Mkhwanazi, however, said Mchunu was “captured” into doing so.

Mkhwanazi made the remarks during what is expected to be his final appearance before Parliament’s ad hoc committee investigating serious allegations within SAPS on 18 March 2026.

“We know he wrote the letter”

Mkhwanazi told the committee that forensic evidence shows Mchunu drafted the controversial letter himself on an iPad.

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Even though the data was allegedly deleted, investigators were able to recover it. Mkwanazi further insisted Mchunu may have been influenced.

"I believe the minister was captured to write that letter. He does not accept that, he owns it.”

Claims of wider capture within the system

Mkhwanazi also alleged that parts of the prosecutorial system have been captured, although he said some names cannot yet be made public due to ongoing investigations.

When pressed on politicians involved, he said some had already been named, including MPs Fadiel Adams and Dianne Kohler Barnard.

He argued that politicians are sometimes misled by corrupt insiders and only become complicit if they fail to act after being informed.

Political leaders “misled” by police insiders

According to Mkhwanazi, some politicians unknowingly act on false information provided by individuals within Crime Intelligence.

He cited an example involving Kohler Barnard, who allegedly raised parliamentary questions based on incorrect information

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"She was fed the wrong information,” he said.

Mkhwanazi added that such incidents can make politicians appear complicit, even when they may have been misinformed.

Final testimony in a high-stakes inquiry

In a related article, Mkhwanazi's appearance at the committee follows his explosive media briefing in July 2025, which sparked the current parliamentary probe into alleged corruption, political interference and institutional capture in the police service. He has already implicated several senior figures, including Mchunu and the suspended deputy national commissioner for crime detection, Lieutenant General Shadrack Sibiya. General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi has said no regrets about holding his now infamous press briefing on 6 July 2025.

Articles on the Political Killings Task Team

• Briefly News reported that President Cyril Ramaphosa said he was unhappy that suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu did not consult him before he disbanded the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT). He made the revelation in his response to Parliament.
• Lieutenant General Fannie Masemola contradicted Senzo Mchunu by claiming that President Cyril Ramaphosa seemed surprised by the disbanding of the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT).
• Suspended Deputy National Police Commissioner Shadrack Sibiya came under fire at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry on Thursday, 19 February 2026, for a series of misleading statements regarding his testimony before the commission on the PKTT.
• The Deputy Minister of Police, Cassel Mathale, said that the Minister of Police, Senzo Mchunu, did not inform him about the disbandment of the Political Killings Task Team.
• The South African Police Service (SAPS) KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Commissioner General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi requested R31 million to be allocated to the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT).

Source: Briefly News