By OBAKENG MAJE
30 August 2025- The Congress of the People (COPE) said it strongly condemns the recent actions of acting Minister of Police, Prof Firoz Cachalia, who has accused the National Police Commissioner, General Fannie Masemola of “jumping the gun” regarding the work of the Political Killings Task Team and the release of 121 investigative dockets.
Cope said Cachalia has further indicated that these matters should not proceed outside of the upcoming Madlanga Commission of Inquiry and has now demanded a report from Masemola on the task team’s work.
Cope acting General Secretary, Erick Mohlapamaswi said they view these actions as a serious overreach of ministerial authority and a troubling interference in the operational independence of the South African Police Service (SAPS).
“The acting Minister of Police is now interfering with the work of the National Police Commissioner. The duties of the Commissioner are, in the main, the operational and managerial control of the police service, in accordance with national policy.
“The Minister’s role is to determine policing policy and provide oversight, not to direct investigations or intervene in operational matters. The National Commissioner is fully within his rights to determine where and how dockets are administered and investigated,” he said.
Mohlapamaswi further said Cachalia must stay within his lane. He added that as Cope, question why Cachalia is so concerned about the release of these 121 dockets.
“What is in these dockets that make ministers so visibly unsettled? Why is the Acting Minister attempting to delay or derail investigations that fall squarely within the Commissioner’s operational mandate?
“The establishment of a Judicial Commission of Inquiry does not suspend the work of the Political Killings Task Team, nor has the task team been disbanded by the Commissioner,” said Mohlapamaswi.
He said therefore, its investigations must continue without political interference, and arrests must proceed where warranted, even as the Commission conducts its own parallel inquiry. Mohlapamaswi said this situation raises a disturbing question.
“Was Cachalia appointed to stall or obstruct the investigations into the 121 political killings dockets?
“We call on Cachalia to refrain from overstepping his authority and to allow the SAPS to carry out its constitutional and legal duties without political pressure or manipulation,” he said.
Mohlapamaswi said the victims of political violence, and the South African public, deserve justice, not delay.
The Guardian 