Police Minister Firoz Cachalia on Friday criticised Police Commissioner decision to return 121 case files to an investigative unit under judicial scrutiny, calling it premature amid an ongoing presidential inquiry.
The rebuke targets National Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola announcement at an Interpol conference that dockets had been reinstated to the Political Killings Task Team.
KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkwanazi had accused the unit of improperly removing murder cases linked to provincial political violence.
Cachalia revealed he requested but never received a mandated operational report about the task team after his June appointment. His intervention comes six weeks after President Cyril Ramaphosa launched a judicial commission to examine evidence-handling claims first raised by KwaZulu-Natal’s police leadership on July 13.
“Steps taken before the commission completes its work undermine due process,” Cachalia said, demanding Masemola overdue report by Monday. The minister emphasised task team’s central role in allegations being investigated.
President Ramaphosa Commission of Inquiry marks his second major police reform effort this year following February dissolution of a corruption-plagued crime intelligence division.
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