Order to disband PKTT caused rift at SAPS headquarters, Madlanga Commission hears

The Madlanga Commission has heard how the instruction for the disbandment of the political killings task team (PKTT) created a rift among senior officers at SAPS headquarters in Pretoria.

Acting Deputy National Police Commissioner for Crime Detection, Hilda Senthumule, detailed how her relationship with her then-boss, Shadrack Sibiya, was strained due to these internal tensions.

READ: Acting SAPS deputy Senthumule labels decision to disband PKTT as ‘business unusual’

Senthumule, who was the former divisional commissioner for detective and forensic services, told the commission that while she tried to maintain a cordial relationship with Sibiya, things began falling apart over internal squabbles regarding the PKTT's disbandment.

She described her professional relationship with Sibiya as unstable.

"I will not say it was one of the best relationships because it was like a touch and go. Today you can be in his good books and tomorrow for no reason you could be in his bad books, so for me it was a touch and go relationship but we had to acknowledge that we had to work together."

As part of the phasing out of the task team, Sibiya instructed Senthumule to coordinate a detailed plan to audit 121 dockets taken away from the PKTT and facilitate their handover to their stations of origin.

Senthumule was instructed by Sibiya to coordinate the handover and audit of the dockets that were transferred from the PKTT to police headquarters. She testified that due to her busy schedule, she couldn't prioritise the task, a delay which did not bode well with Sibiya.

She concluded her testimony on Friday afternoon, confirming that she was strongly opposing the decision to dissolve the task team, but she was not candid about her specific stance on the disbandment during her testimony.