The capabilities of the KwaZulu-Natal Political Killings Task Team (PKTT) have been severely weakened, a commission of inquiry heard yesterday, with testimony pointing to critical failures in ballistic evidence handling, a lack of training, and deep-seated systemic issues within the South African Police Service (SAPS).
The revelations emerged at the Madlanga Commission, where senior forensic analyst Meldon Mkhatshwa submitted that the task team, while not officially disbanded, is operating with significantly diminished capacity.
The commission’s focus zeroed in on the ballistic evidence related to the murder of Armand Swart. According to testimony, a single ballistic report by Itumeleng Makgotloe initially deemed insufficient later revealed crucial links when re-examined in KZN. The re-analysis connected the weapon used in Swart’s murder to 24 violent acts, including 20 other murders.
However, the process exposed severe problems. Witness Solomon Modisani testified that a failure to retrieve a serial number from a firearm, a complaint raised by Makgotloe, should have been a simple task, suggesting a fundamental lack of training.
Weighing in on the testimony, security expert Eldred De Klerk elaborated on the systemic failures plaguing the investigation. He stated that witnesses before the commission cited issues of capability, insufficient labs, a shortage of forensic experts, and a lack of diligence by officers.
De Klerk explained that these problems are exacerbated by a rigid rank structure within SAPS that drives experienced specialists out of their fields. He advocated for a “two-stream system,” similar to that used in the intelligence community, where professional experts like ballistic specialists and forensic scientists can be remunerated and recognized without being forced into management roles.
“The structure of the police doesn’t allow… to have too many captains, too many colonels,” De Klerk said. “To reward somebody… they have to get a higher rank… which means people have to move out of the entity where they are.”
This tension between role and rank, he argued, means that highly experienced practitioners are often sidelined by higher-ranking officers who may lack the specific expertise needed at a crime scene, further hindering investigations.
The commission also heard evidence of potential political interference in the task team’s work. A audio clip was played in which it was revealed that Police Minister Bheki Cele was “very angry” and “dissatisfied” that the PKTT had not been disestablished in accordance with his directive. Despite this pressure, the task team was not formally shut down.
De Klerk noted that the minister’s position, as presented, was that the work of the PKTT should be absorbed into the existing Murder and Robbery or Serious and Violent Crime units.
The testimony paints a picture of a critical investigative body hamstrung not only by a lack of resources and training but also by a police service structure that fails to retain its best experts and is vulnerable to both human error and deliberate sabotage.