Deputy police minister Polly Boshielo says she was disappointed when her boss, suspended police minister Senzo Mchunu, didn’t consult her when he wrote the letter to disband the political killings task team (PKTT).
On December 31 Mchunu sent national police commissioner Gen Fannie Masemola an instruction to immediately disestablish the task team, a move that allegedly fell outside of his authority.
Boshielo appeared before parliament’s ad hoc committee investigating allegations of corruption in the criminal justice system on Tuesday. In her testimony she said she became aware of the letter circulating on social media and thought it was fake until she received a call from Mchunu in January telling her the letter was real and was written by him.
“I was disappointed because I thought we were working together,” Boshielo said.
“Before he could take out the letter ... I had read all the letters before, and I thought he could’ve discussed it with us — but maybe, as the executive authority, he used that to do it. He had the power to issue the letter and he did that.”
The minister might have executive powers to give direction, but the person who’s going to implement it is the accounting officer. They should be able to find common ground and implement what is needed
— Polly Boshielo, deputy police minister
She said while Mchunu had the power to make that decision, a more consultative approach would have been better.
“There should be due processes because the two offices, the accounting officer and the executive authority, should be able to work together and agree on processes to move forward. Yes, the minister might have executive powers to give direction, but the person who’s going to implement it is the accounting officer. They should be able to find common ground and implement what is needed.”
In his previous testimony before the committee, the minister defended his decision to send the directive, saying he was well within his constitutional rights to do so. Part of the reason for disbanding the PKTT was due to budget constraints and the need for optimisation to allocate more resources to combat other crimes in the country instead of only focusing on political killings “in one corner of the country”.
Boshielo attributed Mchunu’s way of doing things to a difference in leadership style.
If she had been consulted, Boshielo said, she would have made inputs on the matter.
“The issue with the letter is that it was already sent to the national commissioner. If he had sought input from me as the deputy minister, I would have done so. It was no use for me to even ask for input because the letter was already out. I didn’t have an opportunity to do that.”
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