Buried dockets, silenced voices: How SAPS failed the families of political murder victims

Key topics:Political murder task team in KZN disbanded without clear reasonOver 200 unsolved cases left in Deputy Commissioner’s officeVictims’ families denied justice, transparency, and accountability.Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here.Support South Africa’s bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here.The auditorium doors will open for BNIC#2 on 10 September 2025 in Hermanus. For more information and tickets, click here..By Fanie Bouwer.The disbandment of the political murder task team in KwaZulu-Natal, which had been investigating hundreds of politically motivated killings, has left a shocking vacuum in South Africa’s criminal justice system.But even more distressing than the institutional failure, is the fact that the voices of the victims’ families — literally hundreds of them — are being quietly buried along with the truth. And that truth may very well be locked away in case files gathering dust in the office of the National Deputy Commissioner.During recent media questioning, National Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola was asked why the task team had been disbanded. His response?"I don’t know what the reasons are, but I’m sure you heard General Mkhwanazi say that after Vusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala was arrested, it became clear what the reasons were. I don’t want to go deeper into it."This is a staggering response from the country’s top police officer — someone ultimately responsible for the safety of all South Africans. If he does not know, then who does? And if he does know but chooses not to say, despite these events apparently taking place outside of his control that is even more alarming.There are reports that more than 200 murder case dockets related to political murders in KZN are simply being kept in the office of the Deputy Police Commissioner, Lieutenant General Shadrack Sibiya. As a former police officer myself, I find it impossible to believe that the National Commissioner has not questioned his deputy about this.These dockets are not just paperwork; they represent the lives of loved ones who were brutally killed. Now their families sit without justice or answers, because those answers are locked away in the police's head office.What is often lost in media coverage about power struggles and intra-political factional battles, is the human cost. Every unsolved murder is a source of ongoing pain for the victims’ families. The disbandment of a task team without a proper explanation or transparent follow-up is not just an administrative oversight - it is an inexcusable moral failure toward affected communities.When will the voices of the victims’ families be heard? Where is justice for them? The state not only failed to protect their loved ones, but now continues to fail them by withholding truth, justice, and closure.The unwillingness of SAPS senior leadership to provide clarity on such a sensitive and critical issue is deeply troubling. If high-profile individuals like Cat Matlala are arrested, and those arrests suddenly lead to the quiet dismantling of an entire task team, then it is fair to ask: What were they trying to stop? What are they trying to hide?The public has a right to know. Parliament has a duty to provide oversight. And the families of the victims have an undeniable right to justice.The handling of political murders, and especially the way these cases are now being swept under the rug, should be regarded as a national disgrace.South Africa prides itself on a Constitution that protects human dignity and the right to life. But in practice, it seems that power and the protection of political networks remain the priority - not justice for ordinary people.What now?The time has come for a public inquiry, independent of SAPS, into the reasons behind the disbandment of the political murder task team. A critically important question is whether a minister even has the operational authority to disband such a team?Parliament and civil society must exert pressure for full transparency. Furthermore, every docket gathering dust in General Sibiya’s office must be urgently reviewed by a new, independent unit. Or even international observers, if necessary.The families of the victims must be given a voice. South Africa’s democracy is at stake when politically motivated killings are not properly investigated.

Buried dockets, silenced voices: How SAPS failed the families of political murder victims

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