TOP QUOTES | National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola's first day at the Madlanga Commission

National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola testified at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry, held at the Brigitte Mabandla Justice College in Pretoria, as the second witness.

Here are some of the top quotes from his first day of testifying:

Commissioner: "If the minister were to give you an instruction that strays on to operational or managerial matters, would you General, say to the minister, I am not going to obey them?"

General: "Yeah, it depends commissioner. But yes, I would. It's a matter that is career limiting, but it depends on how he does it."

1. "I'm saying that the narrative that it was not effective is completely false. If at any point I was convinced that the PTT was no longer effective, I would not have approved its extensions and budgets, which had to be considered twice a year. Hence my astonishment when I learned that the Minister had issued a directive to me to implement his decisions to disband the PTT. I'm convinced that if the Minister had made himself available for briefing and engaged me with an open mind prior to issuing the disbandment directive, he would not have disbanded the PTT."

1. "I received a call from Lieutenant General the same day, 2nd January 2025. He told me that he saw in the media a letter from the minister to me to disband the PKTT. I informed him that I am on leave until 14th January 2025, and had not had any opportunity to consider the contents of the letter from the minister, but that I was aware of it. I made it clear to Lieutenant General that I had nothing to do with the disbandment and I informed him that the Minister never sought any advice before taking the decision. Given the fact that the Minister was instructing, not soliciting, our views of the disbandment of the PTT, I deemed it necessary to speak to the president about the issue. I spoke to the president on the 1st of February 2025.

During this meeting, I mentioned the minister's directive to disband such a successful team. And, the president told me that he would speak to the minister. Of course, I didn't really, require from the president to say whether they agree or not, but I did tell him that this team has been dissolved, reason unknown. And I said if ever it has to be done, it cannot even be done in this abrupt manner."