The ANC’s Khusela Sangoni-Diko feels that both deputy ministers of police have highlighted how the disbandment of the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT) could have been handled better.
Sangoni-Diko was addressing the testimony of Deputy Minister of Police Polly Boshielo as she appeared at Parliament’s ad hoc committee investigating the allegations made by SAPS KwaZulu-Natal provincial head Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.
Boshielo shared insight into how she discovered the PKTT disbandment and the delegation of powers, which was also touched on by the other Deputy Minister of Police, Cassel Mathale.
“Firstly, they believe that the matter of the disbandment of the Political Killings Task Team could have been handled better, and that perhaps there was not sufficient consultation and ultimately consensus on what to do with that.
“There are obviously worrying institutional weaknesses as well, like the issue of the extent to which they, the deputy ministers, perhaps are not efficiently utilised or consulted by the minister, and I think we must take those points to heart.
“It’s not to say that they do not have work, they are not doing their work, which is very important, but you would expect that at the level of the ministry, at least, there would be greater cooperation and collaboration,” Sangoni-Diko said on the sidelines of the parliamentary session.
Sangoni-Diko also said that, as far as their terms of reference are concerned and the work of this committee, they are going to take a particular look at the institutional setup of the police.
“When we started, we spoke about what legislative changes need to be made, and what sort of institutional mechanisms are failing or hindering the crime-fighting effort. I think her testimony was valuable in that sense.
“We’re going to have to put our minds together, I think, when it comes to the report and the recommendations that we need to make. There are certain things that you cannot legislate away. Things like personality clashes, differences of opinion, or whatever the cause between people, but you can look at some things that perhaps would be institutional.
“Obviously, some of the issues, especially as they relate to crime intelligence, don’t fall within our ambit, as they would fall under the Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence, but there’s something within crime intelligence that needs to be done to ensure that there’s stability at that level.
She said MPs would have to answer the lingering question of executive authority versus accounting officer responsibilities, saying in her opinion, there is a very broad interpretation.
“Each witness that comes here, the members themselves, we’re divided on where the line is, you know, in terms of authority. I maintain my point that it would be very absurd for the minister, who’s tasked with ensuring a department delivers, cannot instruct it to do something, obviously within reasonable bounds.
“I think we’re making progress, and I think we’re gonna have to keep going back to those terms of reference to ensure that we stay on track because I mean, there’s a temptation to be all over the place,” she said.
