Cachalia is expected to take over from Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources Gwede Mantashe, who has been appointed as Acting Police Minister by President Cyril Ramaphosa with immediate effect until Cachalia assumes the role on August 1.

Cachalia says the effectiveness of Crime Intelligence and the Political Killings Task Team, central to allegations made by Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, will form part of his focus.

"I do not want to make any pronouncements on this matter now because I haven’t had an opportunity to meet with the police commissioner," said Cachalia. "I think I need to do that before I come to any conclusions. In engaging with him, I hope it can be a joint decision."

"But certainly, the question about that unit and why it was dismantled  whether there were good reasons or not and of course, questions were raised about whether it should be reinstated. But I don’t have an informed opinion on that matter at this point," he added.

--SABC/ChannelAfrica--