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Evidence leaders to serve Andrea Johnson with a Rule 3 notice so she can answer the new allegations
With Advocate Andrea Johnson's six days of evidence closed on 29 July and fresh allegations aired against her the following day, the Madlanga Commission's evidence leaders indicated they would issue her a Rule 3 notice - the mechanism under the commission's rules by which a person implicated in evidence is formally told what has been said about them and given the opportunity to respond. It sets up her recall to answer the recorded 26 July telephone call played on Day 151, the allegation that she drove an investigation called 'Project Diversion' against national commissioner General Fannie Masemola and Crime Intelligence head Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo, and the account of a suspect list handed over on 5 December 2024. A Rule 3 notice is a procedural protection, not an accusation or a finding. The allegations are untested and Johnson is presumed innocent.
OpenDay 152
The Madlanga Commission continued into a third straight week on the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption, with more of the directorate's own officials expected on the stand - a senior IDAC investigator was set down for Friday, with Advocate Drushantha Ramsamy's part-heard evidence to resume the following Tuesday. The week had already produced the sequence the commission is now working through in order: former IDAC head Advocate Andrea Johnson concluded six days of evidence on Day 150, one of her prosecutors testified against her on Day 151 and played a recorded call in which Johnson allegedly told her to leave the country rather than testify, and by Thursday evening the Justice Minister and the National Director of Public Prosecutions had suspended three senior IDAC investigators and placed the whole directorate under a six-month reset. The commission's evidence leaders had also indicated they would issue Johnson a Rule 3 notice - the mechanism by which a person implicated in evidence is put on formal notice and given the opportunity to respond - so that she can answer the new allegations, and the Justice Ministry was reported to be looking outside the directorate for someone to lead it in the interim. This entry was written while the day's proceedings were under way and will be extended once the day's evidence is on the record. All allegations are untested and everyone named is presumed innocent.
OpenThree City of Ekurhuleni heads of department dismissed, two of them implicated at the commission
The City of Ekurhuleni dismissed three senior officials on 30 July 2026 over fraud and corruption allegations. Two of them - head of legal services Kemi Behari and head of human resources Linda Gxasheka - had been implicated in evidence before the Madlanga Commission, where it was alleged they shielded Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department chief Julius Mkhwanazi from disciplinary action by attempting to suppress an Independent Police Investigative Directorate report that found he had entered the EMPD into contracts with Vusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala. Both had been suspended in February 2026 and were later arrested and charged with corruption alongside Mkhwanazi and former city manager Imogen Mashazi in an operation run by the task team set up on the commission's recommendations. The third dismissal, of head of HR services Moloko Monyepao, concerned alleged negligence linked to a revenue loss and is not a commission matter. A dismissal is an employment outcome, not a criminal finding; the criminal charges remain untested and all named are presumed innocent.
OpenKubayi and Mothibi suspend three senior IDAC investigators and put the directorate under a six-month reset
On 30 July 2026, hours after an IDAC state advocate testified against the directorate's former head, Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi suspended IDAC chief investigator Dylan Perumal, and National Director of Public Prosecutions Advocate Andy Mothibi suspended senior investigator Brian Padayachee - who led the Crime Intelligence case and defended it at the commission across Days 139-141 - and investigator Suneel Bellochun. All three suspensions are precautionary and pending disciplinary processes; reporting recorded that the three had been accused before the commission of manipulating cases, including the fabrication of witness statements. Kubayi and Mothibi simultaneously gave the directorate six months to reform, with skills and lifestyle audits of all 212 IDAC employees due by 14 August 2026, a review of IDAC cases currently before the courts and a review of its standard operating procedures. Kubayi described it as 'a comprehensive reset of IDAC aimed at rebranding and repositioning the directorate'. A suspension is an employment step, not a finding of wrongdoing; none of the three has yet answered from the stand and all are presumed innocent.
OpenDay 151
Witness: Advocate Drushantha Ramsamy. The Madlanga Commission heard from Advocate Drushantha Ramsamy, a state advocate inside the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption and, until this week, one of Andrea Johnson's own prosecutors - and the case against the case turned into a case against the leadership. The centrepiece was a recording Ramsamy made of a telephone call with Johnson on 26 July, the day Johnson wrote to the National Director of Public Prosecutions asking to be released. Played in open session, it captured Johnson saying of the commission, 'It's going to be a shitshow', dismissing a legal point with 'this is Basic Law 101, I'm surprised you don't know it', and - on what Ramsamy should do if the commission summoned her - 'if they call you, leave the country'. Ramsamy testified that Johnson had been nicknamed 'Flip-Flop, Knee-Jerk' by IDAC staff because her instructions changed through the day after she consulted chief investigator Dylan Perumal, and that Johnson personally drove an investigation staff called 'Project Diversion' which targeted national commissioner General Fannie Masemola and Crime Intelligence head Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo - an 'orchestrated attack', in Ramsamy's words, on the two police leaders. She said Johnson handed her a list of suspects written on a pinkish-purple sheet on 5 December 2024 with the words 'these are the suspects, Chief and I discussed who is to be included', and that when she later saw a document before the commission that differed from the section 27 affidavit Johnson had given her that same day, 'my heart dropped to my stomach'. She told the commission it was easy inside IDAC to manipulate statements and to decide who the suspects would be, how an investigation would run and what the witnesses would say. Away from the chamber the consequences landed the same day: Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi suspended Perumal, and NDPP Advocate Andy Mothibi suspended senior investigator Brian Padayachee and investigator Suneel Bellochun, all pending disciplinary processes; Kubayi and Mothibi gave IDAC six months to reform, with skills and lifestyle audits of all 212 employees due by 14 August. Ramsamy's evidence was part-heard and she was set down to resume the following Tuesday. All allegations are untested and everyone named is presumed innocent.
OpenIDAC investigator Suneel Bellochun served with a notice of intended suspension over three complaints
Evidence at the commission on 29 July 2026 disclosed that senior Investigating Directorate Against Corruption investigator Suneel Bellochun had been served with a notice of intention to suspend him, arising from three separate complaints: one raised before Parliament's ad hoc committee in September 2025; allegations aired through a protected Political Killings Task Team witness known to the commission as Witness N, that Bellochun had extorted money from undocumented traders by exploiting their fear of deportation; and a complaint that he attempted to question a jailed officer without legal representation present in order to secure the implication of senior officials in the Medicare24 matter. A notice of intended suspension is a precautionary employment step and not a finding; the following day the notice became an actual suspension alongside two IDAC colleagues. All the allegations are untested and Bellochun is presumed innocent.
OpenMadlanga refuses Suleiman Carrim's fifth postponement bid and orders him back on 14 August
On 29 July 2026 chairperson Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga handed down the ruling reserved on Day 147 and refused North West businessman Suleiman Carrim's application to postpone his part-heard evidence indefinitely, directing him to appear in person on 14 August 2026. Madlanga allowed one exception: 'Mr Carrim will be excused from appearing on the 14th of August 2026 only if he has voluntarily subjected himself to an independent evaluation by a medical specialist' - a specialist nominated not by Carrim's own doctors but by the chairperson of the association of medical professionals in the field in which his doctor practises, with the appointment agreed and the examination completed by 3 August 2026. It was his fifth postponement application since an April health scare, and the first the commission refused outright. The evidence leaders had put to the commission that cellphone geolocation showed Carrim leaving his facility almost daily for eight hours or more. Nothing here is a finding; the allegations concerning Carrim are untested and he is presumed innocent.
OpenDay 150
Witness: Advocate Andrea Johnson. Advocate Andrea Johnson concluded a sixth and final day in the Madlanga Commission's hot seat, and the day ended where the commission had been circling since her first appearance: her relationship with suspended Crime Intelligence deputy head Major-General Feroz Khan. Commissioners put to her a set of WhatsApp exchanges submitted in evidence in which Khan greeted her as 'Hi gorgeous' and 'you gorgeous', the two spoke of missing one another, arranged dinners and discussed her visiting his home - messages the commission said showed a far closer and longer-running association than the 'very affable' acquaintance she had described on Day 144, when she said she had met him around a fiftieth birthday and had not been in contact for some eighteen months. Johnson accepted the relationship was 'very deep' and personal. The same day, chairperson Mbuyiseli Madlanga handed down the ruling he had reserved on Day 147: North West businessman Suleiman Carrim's application to postpone his part-heard evidence indefinitely was refused, and Carrim was directed to appear in person on 14 August 2026. Madlanga made one exception - 'Mr Carrim will be excused from appearing on the 14th of August 2026 only if he has voluntarily subjected himself to an independent evaluation by a medical specialist' - with the specialist to be nominated by the chairperson of the professional association in the relevant field of medicine and the examination agreed and completed by 3 August. It was Carrim's fifth postponement bid and the first the commission refused outright. Johnson's evidence also disclosed that senior IDAC investigator Suneel Bellochun had been served with a notice of intended suspension, following three separate complaints laid against him, among them allegations aired through a protected Political Killings Task Team witness known as Witness N that he had extorted money from undocumented traders. On the evidence that had emerged during her testimony, the commission's evidence leaders signalled that Johnson would be recalled to answer new allegations. All allegations are untested and everyone named is presumed innocent.
OpenMokwele's lawyers reject the 'provisional' withdrawal and weigh a permanent stay of prosecution
A day after the National Prosecuting Authority provisionally withdrew the Crime Intelligence corruption case, lawyers for Brigadier Dineo Mokwele said they were unhappy that the withdrawal had been framed as provisional - which leaves the file open rather than closing it - and were considering advising her to reject it and to seek a permanent stay of prosecution instead. Their objection is to the NDPP's position that the investigation remains incomplete, more than a year after she was arrested and charged. Nothing here is a finding; the allegations against Mokwele were never tested and she is presumed innocent.
OpenDay 149
Witness: Advocate Andrea Johnson. Advocate Andrea Johnson returned to the Madlanga Commission for a fifth day - her first as the former head of the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption, a day after her resignation took effect - and faced questions about whether the directorate had prosecuted selectively. Commissioner Advocate Sesi Baloyi SC asked why IDAC had not pursued allegations that Crime Intelligence funds were diverted to former police minister Bheki Cele, a matter she put squarely within the directorate's mandate; Johnson answered that she had received no briefing on it, and Baloyi replied that, 'on the extreme end, it speaks to selective investigations and prosecutions if this was overlooked'. Johnson undertook to check whether her former team had ever pursued the allegations. On the previous day's evidence that a statement attributed to MP Fadiel Adams had been fabricated, she said she had no knowledge of it and that no one had ever raised it with her, while accepting the chronology was implausible and deferring the detail to the investigators. She also struggled to account for IDAC's investigation into the Political Killings Task Team: she said she had no recall of ordering it and had only recently learned it existed, despite having signed a summons for task-team records and an April 2025 prosecution memorandum authorising it, and despite telling Parliament's ad hoc committee that IDAC was not investigating the task team; evidence leader Advocate Mahlape Sello SC pressed her, and Johnson said the memorandum 'related to the promotions, and that was all it related to'. The day's evidence further covered fraud and corruption charges arising from a Crime Intelligence forklift worth close to R1 million for which a supplier was paid but which was never delivered - a matter Johnson accepted looked more like a breach of contract than a crime. Her testimony was continuing when this entry was written; all allegations are untested and everyone named is presumed innocent.
OpenMadlanga Commission to lay criminal charges over the leaking of an anonymous witness's identity
Chairperson Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga announced on 27 July 2026 that someone had disclosed the identity of a witness who testified anonymously before the commission, and that on the face of it the disclosure was deliberate. The commission, he said, would institute criminal proceedings against that person in terms of the Commissions Act and the commission's own regulations: 'this is a matter the commission takes very seriously and it simply must act in these circumstances.' He did not name the person responsible or the witness concerned, and this archive does not either - several witnesses in this inquiry have testified under protection after describing surveillance and threats.
OpenRamaphosa accepts Andrea Johnson's resignation as IDAC head with immediate effect - she testifies the same day
Advocate Andrea Johnson wrote to the National Director of Public Prosecutions on Sunday 26 July 2026 asking to be released from her post as head of the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption within 24 hours, waiving her three-month notice period and citing what she described as unprecedented attacks on her personally and professionally over five months, much of it arising from IDAC's cases against Crime Intelligence officials. On Monday 27 July, on a recommendation from Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi supported by NDPP Advocate Andy Mothibi, President Cyril Ramaphosa accepted the resignation with immediate effect under section 12(8)(a) of the NPA Act. She testified at the Madlanga Commission the same day, and returned the next as IDAC's former head. Her resignation follows four days in the witness box in which she conceded errors of mandate and process in the Crime Intelligence prosecutions.
OpenNPA provisionally withdraws the Crime Intelligence corruption case against Lt-Gen Dumisani Khumalo and his co-accused
On 27 July 2026 the National Prosecuting Authority confirmed that National Director of Public Prosecutions Advocate Andy Mothibi had completed a review and signed a provisional withdrawal, before plea, of the fraud and corruption case arising from the appointment of Brigadier Dineo Mokwele - the case for which Crime Intelligence head Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo and other senior officers were arrested in June 2025. The reported grounds were the Madlanga Commission's evidence that Mokwele did hold the qualifications and experience for the post, contradicting IDAC's characterisation of her as unqualified, and the contradictions aired at the commission over how the complainant MP's statements were obtained. NPA spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said that 'for now, with the facts before him, the NDPP decided to withdraw the matter after the review process', and that it still had to be formally withdrawn in court. Mothibi's letter recorded that the matter may not be re-enrolled, nor any fresh prosecution decision taken, without his express written approval. A provisional withdrawal is not an acquittal and not a finding; all named are presumed innocent.
OpenDay 148
Witness: Advocate Andrea Johnson. On the day President Cyril Ramaphosa accepted her immediate resignation, Advocate Andrea Johnson returned to the Madlanga Commission for a fourth day and the case her directorate built against Crime Intelligence came apart in public. The commission heard that two members of the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption's own team - state advocate Drushantha Ramsamy and investigator Mantsha Raphesu, both on the docket, whose names outlets reported inconsistently at the time and which the record has since settled - had disputed, in recorded voice notes, the authenticity of a supplementary statement marked 'A1' that IDAC chief investigator Dylan Perumal later filed in court and before the commission as evidence from complainant MP Fadiel Adams. One asked why 'two investigating officers sitting in the same boardroom' would have taken different statements on the same day, confirming that only four statements were taken in her presence during the 6 January 2025 interview in Cape Town; the other said the A1 'could not have been possible because on that day we only obtained the supplementaries'. Johnson accepted the timeline did not hold - 'procedurally it does not make sense; you cannot have one team together, same day, same place' - Commissioner Advocate Sandile Khumalo SC said the material pointed to serious misconduct, and evidence leader Advocate Mahlape Sello SC asked whether the commission was 'confronted with a fraudulent Section 27'. Under questioning from Commissioner Advocate Sesi Baloyi SC, Johnson also conceded that IDAC investigators 'may well be conducting investigations of individuals that are not authorised', that the directorate was 'not supposed to solicit' complaints from the public, and that she had never personally verified Brigadier Dineo Mokwele's qualifications before charges were brought against her - 'I relied on the briefing from my team. I trusted them implicitly. I now see the facts I received then were incorrect' - withdrawing her earlier description of the appointment as a 'token appointment' and apologising to Mokwele. Chairperson Mbuyiseli Madlanga separately announced that the commission would institute criminal proceedings against a person who, on the face of it, deliberately disclosed the identity of a witness who had testified anonymously; he named neither. The same day, the National Prosecuting Authority confirmed that National Director of Public Prosecutions Advocate Andy Mothibi had signed a provisional withdrawal, before plea, of the corruption case against Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo and his co-accused. All allegations are untested and everyone named is presumed innocent.
OpenCommission told the 'too ill to testify' businessman Suleiman Carrim was at a Cape Town mall - ruling reserved
On 24 July 2026 (Day 147) the Madlanga Commission heard Suleiman Carrim's fifth application to postpone the continuation of his part-heard evidence, in open session after chairperson Mbuyiseli Madlanga refused his bid to have the application itself heard in camera. Evidence leader Advocate Adila Hassim SC told the commission that on 14 July Carrim spent four hours at a Durbanville mall, entering a Woolworths store and a Kauai eatery, and put cellphone geolocation data to the panel which she said showed him leaving his medical facility almost every day for at least eight hours at a time - contradicting affidavits about restricted movement. She asked for an independent medical assessment. Madlanga said an educated guess would be that the commission 'can't hold our breath' on a further date, and called the claim that only Carrim could supply his companies' auditors' names, outstanding since March, 'patently false'. The ruling was reserved. Carrim is presumed innocent and the allegations against him are untested.
OpenBrigadier Dineo Mokwele lodges a misconduct complaint against IDAC head Andrea Johnson
On 24 July 2026 Brigadier Dineo Mokwele - the Crime Intelligence officer whose appointment founded the whole IDAC prosecution - lodged a complaint of misconduct against IDAC head Advocate Andrea Johnson with the directorate's oversight judge, retired judge Takalani Raulinga, alleging an abuse of prosecutorial authority. The complaint was filed two days before Johnson resigned; the ombudsman's office has indicated that a resignation does not end its process. The allegations on both sides are untested and everyone named is presumed innocent.
OpenDay 147
The Madlanga Commission heard North West businessman Suleiman Carrim's latest application to postpone the continuation of his part-heard testimony, in open session after the chairperson rejected his bid to have the application itself heard in camera - news organisations had opposed a wholly private hearing, and Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga ruled it would proceed publicly on condition that the details of Carrim's medical condition were not disclosed. Carrim, who first testified on 9-10 March 2026 and has been declared unfit by his doctors at every scheduled return since a health scare in April, was said by the evidence leaders to be functioning day to day: evidence leader Advocate Adila Hassim SC put it to the commission that on 14 July he had spent a four-hour authorised excursion from his facility at a Durbanville mall in Cape Town's northern suburbs, entering a Woolworths store and a Kauai eatery, footage of which the commission had but did not screen publicly. His doctor's account described the outing as a chaperoned excursion between 1pm and 5pm, subject to strict authorisation and search protocols. Hassim SC went further, putting cellphone geolocation data to the commission which she said showed Carrim leaving the facility almost every single day and staying out for at least eight hours at a time, contradicting affidavits from his wife and his doctor about restricted movement, and asked the commission to order an independent medical assessment. Madlanga was openly sceptical that a date for the resumption of his evidence could be relied on - 'an educated guess would lead one to say we can't hold our breath' - and said the claim that only Carrim could supply the names of his companies' auditors, outstanding since March, was 'patently false'. The commission reserved its ruling, with 14 August 2026 flagged as a possible resumption date. Carrim is presumed innocent and the allegations against him remain untested.
OpenDay 146
Witness: Advocate Andrea Johnson. Advocate Andrea Johnson resumed a third day of testimony at the Madlanga Commission, giving evidence on the section 27 referral affidavit that led to the arrest of Crime Intelligence head Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo and six other officials. She addressed the involvement of senior investigator Suneel Bellochun in the Khumalo matter and testified that Khumalo's arrest was unrelated to the work of the Political Killings Task Team. The day continued the commission's scrutiny, over her three appearances, of whether IDAC had the mandate and the evidence to bring the Crime Intelligence prosecutions, and of the separate whistleblower allegation that Johnson shielded Major-General Feroz Khan in 2018. All allegations are untested; Johnson, Khumalo and Khan are presumed innocent.
OpenIDAC boss Andrea Johnson concedes her directorate erred on its mandate in the Khumalo case
On 22 July 2026 (Day 145), her second day of testimony, IDAC head Advocate Andrea Johnson conceded she had made an error in concluding that the corruption case against Crime Intelligence head Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo fell within the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption's mandate - a concession about the legal test applied to the section 27 referral that founded the prosecution. Evidence leader Advocate Mahlape Sello SC pressed her on whether IDAC had improperly 'solicited' an affidavit from National Coloured Congress MP Fadiel Adams, which Johnson disputed even as it emerged that IDAC investigator Dylan Perumal had told Adams the case could not proceed without a specific affidavit from him. Commissioner Advocate Sesi Baloyi SC accused the directorate of misusing its power by moving against the officers too quickly and without a proper legislative basis; Johnson answered 'no comment'. Proceedings adjourned early after she said her medication had a debilitating effect. All allegations are untested; those named are presumed innocent.
OpenDay 145
Witness: Advocate Andrea Johnson. IDAC head Advocate Andrea Johnson returned for a second day at the Madlanga Commission, where evidence leader Advocate Mahlape Sello SC and the commissioners pressed her on whether the directorate had overreached in the Crime Intelligence case. Johnson conceded she had made an error in concluding that the corruption matter against Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo fell within IDAC's mandate, an admission over the legal test applied to a section 27 referral. She pushed back on the suggestion that IDAC had improperly 'solicited' an affidavit from National Coloured Congress MP Fadiel Adams - 'I don't agree with solicited; we're not supposed to solicit' - though it emerged that IDAC investigator Dylan Perumal had told Adams the directorate could not proceed without a specific affidavit from him; Adams's complaint helped trigger the 2025 arrests of seven Crime Intelligence officers, including Khumalo. Commissioner Advocate Sesi Baloyi SC put it to Johnson that IDAC had misused its power by taking intrusive steps against the officers too quickly and without a proper legislative basis, to which Johnson repeatedly answered 'no comment'. Proceedings adjourned about an hour early after Johnson said medication she was taking was having a debilitating effect. All allegations are untested; those named are presumed innocent.
OpenEMPD deputy chief Julius Mkhwanazi and commission's 'Witness K' granted bail in R15m gemstones case
On 21 July 2026 the suspended Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD) deputy chief Julius Mkhwanazi - not to be confused with KwaZulu-Natal commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, the whistleblower whose complaint launched the commission - and the commission's 'Witness K' were each granted R5,000 bail in the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court over the 2023 theft of roughly R15 million in precious stones. It was Julius Mkhwanazi's third arrest-and-bail in recent months; on 9 July he and an Ekurhuleni official had been granted R50,000 bail each in a separate corruption matter. These are charges, not findings, and both are presumed innocent.
OpenIDAC head Andrea Johnson finally testifies: reveals a 'get body bags ready' death threat, invokes self-incrimination on Khan
On 21 July 2026 (Day 144), after two July postponements, IDAC head Advocate Andrea Johnson took the stand at the Madlanga Commission. She disclosed that in the days before Crime Intelligence head Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo's arrest on 26 June 2025 she received the first death threat of her prosecutorial career - a message from an unregistered SIM naming her and colleagues and warning 'get body bags ready'. She denied political interference in the Crime Intelligence prosecutions and rejected an alleged 'Khan-IDAC cabal'. On the whistleblower allegation that she leaked a 2018 assault-case docket to Major-General Feroz Khan, Johnson said her 'memory needed jogging', called Khan 'very affable', acknowledged a past social acquaintance, and invoked her constitutional right against self-incrimination - confirming the matter sits in an NPA docket that will decide whether she is prosecuted. All allegations are untested; Johnson and Khan are presumed innocent.
OpenDay 144
Witness: Advocate Andrea Johnson. The head of the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC), Advocate Andrea Johnson, finally took the stand at the Madlanga Commission after her July postponements, and used her first day to answer the whistleblower evidence against her while disclosing a death threat of her own. Johnson told the commission she received a threatening SMS in the days before Crime Intelligence head Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo's arrest on 26 June 2025 - the first death threat of her prosecutorial career - which named her and colleagues and said 'get body bags ready'; it came from an unregistered SIM and the sender was never identified. She denied any political interference in the Khumalo case, said IDAC's investigations are 'driven by evidence, not politics' and predate her taking office, and rejected being part of an alleged 'Khan-IDAC cabal'. On the central allegation - that in 2018, as an NPA prosecutor, she caused Brigadier Leonora Phetlhe's assault-case docket to be leaked to Major-General Feroz Khan - Johnson said her 'memory needed jogging', described Khan as 'very affable' and acknowledged a past social acquaintance, including his 50th birthday, but said they had had no contact for about a year and a half after she distanced herself over allegations linking him to individuals connected to two murders. She confirmed the allegations against her and Khan sit in an NPA docket that will decide whether she is prosecuted, and invoked her constitutional right against self-incrimination on the Khan-related questions. All allegations are untested; Johnson and Khan are presumed innocent.
Open'Cat' Matlala's criminal trial begins in the Johannesburg High Court
On 20 July 2026 the criminal trial of alleged 'Big Five' figure Vusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala opened in the Johannesburg High Court - a matter separate from both his postponed Madlanga Commission appearance and his R228 million Medicare24 tender case. Matlala stands trial with co-accused including his wife Tsakani Matlala on a combined set of charges the state puts at 25 counts, among them 11 counts of attempted murder tied to three shootings between August 2022 and January 2024, along with money laundering; the state alleges he bankrolled three attempted assassinations. The trial is at its outset and all charges are untested; every accused is presumed innocent.
OpenDay 143
The Madlanga Commission sat entirely behind closed doors as the anonymous businessman known only as 'Witness M' continued the in-camera testimony he began under the 8 July ruling that granted him a private hearing on safety grounds. Witness M is giving evidence on one of the major 2021 cocaine busts under investigation - the consignment routed from Durban that was later compromised - and his affidavit is understood to touch on politically exposed individuals, organised-crime families, drug syndicates and law-enforcement officers. Because the session was closed, no public evidence was heard; the commission indicated open hearings would resume the following day. Nothing said in camera is a finding, and anyone who may be named is presumed innocent.
OpenCommission hears how a R200m Durban cocaine bust was bungled by inexperienced officers
On 17 July 2026 (Day 142) the Madlanga Commission heard from KwaZulu-Natal Warrant Officer Mbongeleni Felix Mpangase, one of the officers on the June 2021 operation that recovered more than 540kg of cocaine - street value about R200 million - from a shipping container that arrived at Durban port from Brazil and was intercepted at a depot in Isipingo. Commissioners accused Mpangase of making false or misleading entries in official records and put it to him that the scene was not secured, the drugs were not stored in evidence bags, and the consignment was moved more than 100km away. He conceded he had no experience of large container interceptions and that mistakes were made, but insisted he was following his superiors' orders and had no criminal intent. The cocaine was later stolen from a Hawks storage facility. All allegations are untested and those named are presumed innocent.
OpenFeroz Khan discharged from hospital; precious-metals warrant stayed to September
Suspended Crime Intelligence deputy head Major-General Feroz Khan was discharged from hospital around 17 July 2026, roughly three weeks after he was shot in an apparent assassination attempt in Houghton on 28 June. In the separate illicit-precious-metals matter in the Kempton Park Magistrate's Court, Khan had failed to appear on 14 July; the court authorised a warrant for his arrest but stayed it until 2 September 2026, accepting his medical condition. He remains out on R20,000 bail alongside Gauteng Hawks head Ebrahim Kadwa and businessman Tariq Downes. These are charges, not findings; Khan is presumed innocent and has still not testified before the commission, which led evidence against him in absentia earlier in July.
OpenDay 142
The Madlanga Commission turned back to the mishandling of a major drug seizure, hearing from KwaZulu-Natal-based Warrant Officer Mbongeleni Felix Mpangase - one of the officers on the June 2021 operation that recovered more than 540 kilograms of cocaine, with a street value put at about R200 million, concealed in a shipping container that had arrived at Durban port from Brazil and was intercepted at a depot in Isipingo. Mpangase came under sustained questioning from the commissioners, who accused him of making false or misleading entries in official records connected to the seizure and put it to him that the scene was not properly secured, that the cocaine was not stored in evidence bags and that the consignment was moved to a facility more than 100 kilometres away. He conceded he had no previous experience of large-scale container drug interceptions and that mistakes were made, but maintained he was following the instructions of his superiors and that there was no criminal intent on his part. The commission has heard that the cocaine was later stolen from a Hawks storage facility, amid allegations that officials may have colluded with drug traffickers - the same trafficking saga the in-camera 'Witness M' is testifying about. All allegations are untested and those named are presumed innocent.
OpenCommission questions IDAC's whole case against Khumalo over the Mokwele appointment
On 16 July 2026 (Day 141) IDAC investigator Brian Padayachee concluded a third day of cross-examination on the fraud and corruption case the directorate brought against Crime Intelligence head Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo over the allegedly irregular appointment of Brigadier Dineo Mokwele - an ex-BMW mechatronics and industrial-engineering graduate - to a technical Crime Intelligence post. Chairperson Mbuyiseli Madlanga had called IDAC's reasoning a 'quantum leap in logic', Commissioner Sesi Baloyi SC framed the founding complaint as a human-resources dispute with no allegation of corruption, and the Mail & Guardian reported the commission heard IDAC had charged Khumalo 'on sparse facts'. The evidence leaders traced a documentary timeline showing the complaint reached IDAC within weeks. Nothing is a finding; the IDAC case is untested and all named are presumed innocent.
OpenDay 141
Witness: Col Brian Padayachee. Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) investigator Brian Padayachee concluded a third day in the hot seat on the fraud and corruption case the directorate brought against Crime Intelligence head Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo and co-accused over the allegedly irregular appointment of Brigadier Dineo Mokwele - a former BMW employee holding a mechatronics-engineering diploma and an industrial-engineering degree - to a brigadier-level post running Crime Intelligence's Technical Support Services unit. IDAC's theory that the appointment was an 'attempt to capture Crime Intelligence' met sustained scepticism across the three days: chairperson Mbuyiseli Madlanga had called the reasoning a 'quantum leap in logic', noting that SAPS regularly appoints civilians with specialist expertise and that a lack of policing experience does not by itself point to criminal conduct, while Commissioner Advocate Sesi Baloyi SC put it that National Coloured Congress MP Fadiel Adams's founding affidavit contained no allegation of corruption and read more like a human-resources dispute than a crime. IOL reported Padayachee's evidence as amounting to Mokwele being arrested over conduct investigators believed she might commit in future - he could not say when the alleged offence would occur - and the commission noted the charge dated the alleged offence to October 2024 although Mokwele only signed her contract that December, her appointment taking effect on 1 November 2024. On this day the evidence leaders walked the documentary record showing how the complaint reached IDAC within weeks, and the Mail & Guardian reported the commission heard IDAC had charged Khumalo 'on sparse facts'. All allegations are untested; Khumalo, Mokwele and those named are presumed innocent.
OpenCommission questions whether IDAC had jurisdiction to charge Khumalo
On 15 July 2026 (Day 140) the Madlanga Commission scrutinised the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption's mandate as it continued cross-examining IDAC investigator Brian Padayachee on the fraud and corruption case against Crime Intelligence head Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo. Counsel put it to Padayachee that the complaint by National Coloured Congress MP Fadiel Adams did not, on its own, give IDAC jurisdiction and lacked substance, and chairperson Mbuyiseli Madlanga said it was 'highly improbable' that Padayachee could have run the investigation without a copy of the main complaint. Padayachee again denied MK Party MP Vusi Shongwe's claim of an 'Indian cabal' said to include himself, IDAC head Advocate Andrea Johnson, senior investigator Suneel Bellochun and Major-General Feroz Khan, saying 'if such a cabal exists, I am not a party to it'. All allegations are untested; those named are presumed innocent.
Open'Cat' Matlala's commission testimony postponed to 1 September; statement due 29 July
On 15 July 2026 (Day 140) the Madlanga Commission postponed the testimony of alleged 'Big Five' cartel figure Vusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala to 1 September 2026 and ordered him to file his statement by 29 July. His counsel, Advocate Anneline van den Heever, argued that his section 35 constitutional rights as a potential accused had to take precedence over the commission's timetable, and that the defence could not responsibly advise him to testify until it had seen the documents on his collapsed plea negotiations and understood the full criminal case against him. Chairperson Mbuyiseli Madlanga, visibly irritated, cut the argument short to focus on the 'broader question' of precedence before granting the postponement. Matlala's R228 million Medicare24 fraud matter separately goes to trial on 11 September. The court has made no finding and he is presumed innocent.
OpenDay 140
Witness: Col Brian Padayachee. The Madlanga Commission postponed the testimony of alleged 'Big Five' cartel figure Vusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala to 1 September 2026 and ordered him to file his statement by 29 July, after his counsel Advocate Anneline van den Heever argued that his section 35 constitutional rights as a potential accused had to take precedence over the commission's timetable: she said the defence could not responsibly advise him to testify until it had seen the documents relating to his collapsed plea negotiations and understood the full criminal case against him. Chairperson Mbuyiseli Madlanga, visibly irritated, cut the argument short to focus on 'the broader question' of precedence. The commission then continued cross-examining Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) investigator Brian Padayachee on the fraud and corruption case against Crime Intelligence head Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo, with counsel questioning whether the complaint by National Coloured Congress MP Fadiel Adams gave IDAC jurisdiction at all and calling it thin on substance; Madlanga said it was 'highly improbable' that Padayachee could have run the investigation without a copy of the main complaint. Padayachee again rejected MK Party MP Vusi Shongwe's claim of an 'Indian cabal' of Padayachee, IDAC head Advocate Andrea Johnson, senior investigator Suneel Bellochun and Major-General Feroz Khan, telling the commission: 'If such a cabal exists, I am not a party to it.' All allegations are untested; those named are presumed innocent.
OpenBusinessman Suleiman Carrim ruled medically unfit to testify again
Ahead of a 15 July 2026 return date, businessman Suleiman Carrim was again reported to have been ruled medically unfit to testify before the Madlanga Commission, still receiving treatment at a healthcare facility outside Gauteng. Carrim - one of the alleged funders in the R360 million SAPS Medicare24 tender who testified on Days 73-74 before a run of ill-health postponements - had in late June been warned by evidence leader Advocate Matthew Chaskalson SC that the commission could recommend his prosecution under the Commissions Act if he refused an independent medical assessment. The commission indicated that if an independent assessment confirmed he was unfit it would abide by that finding and rely on the evidence already before it. The court has made no finding against him and he is presumed innocent.
OpenIDAC investigator Padayachee denies 'Khan cabal' and interception claims at the commission
On 14 July 2026 (Day 139), with IDAC head Advocate Andrea Johnson's testimony still postponed on medical grounds, senior Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) investigator Brian Padayachee took the stand to defend the directorate against claims it is being weaponised in police infighting. He denied allegations - raised through Durban businessman Thoshan Panday - that he ran unlawful telephone interceptions and covert surveillance for over a decade, calling them 'baseless and devoid of merit' and saying IDAC has sufficient evidence to sustain its criminal case against Crime Intelligence head Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo and others. Padayachee rejected the existence of a 'Khan-IDAC cabal', confirmed he knew suspended Crime Intelligence deputy head Major-General Feroz Khan from prior work, and disputed KZN commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi's account, saying Mkhwanazi knew of Khumalo's arrest. He conceded he did not have complainant MP Fadiel Adams's signed affidavit when the Khumalo case began. All allegations are untested; those named are presumed innocent.
OpenDay 139
Witness: Col Brian Padayachee. With IDAC head Advocate Andrea Johnson's testimony still postponed on medical grounds, senior Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) investigator Brian Padayachee took the stand at the Madlanga Commission to defend the directorate against claims that it is being weaponised in police infighting. Padayachee denied allegations - raised through Durban businessman Thoshan Panday - that he orchestrated unlawful telephone interceptions and covert surveillance for more than a decade by misusing interception orders, calling them 'baseless and devoid of merit' and insisting 'the IDAC has sufficient evidence to sustain the charges in the criminal case against Khumalo and other officials at Crime Intelligence'. He rejected the existence of a so-called 'Khan-IDAC cabal' (also put to him as an 'Indian cabal'), saying he had no knowledge of any such group, while confirming he knew suspended Crime Intelligence deputy head Major-General Feroz Khan from their earlier work together in Crime Intelligence. Padayachee also pushed back on KwaZulu-Natal commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi's claims, testifying that Mkhwanazi knew of and had no issue with the arrest of Crime Intelligence head Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo, whose fraud and corruption case he said arose from a complaint laid by National Coloured Congress MP Fadiel Adams. Under questioning he conceded he did not have Adams's original signed affidavit when the case began, relying on an oral briefing and receiving the sworn statement later, which chairperson Mbuyiseli Madlanga probed. Businessman Suleiman Carrim was separately reported to have been ruled medically unfit to testify again, days before a 15 July return date. All allegations are untested; those named are presumed innocent.
OpenIDAC head Johnson's testimony postponed after hospital dash; Mkhwanazi attacks IDAC
On 13 July 2026 (Day 138) IDAC head Advocate Andrea Johnson was due to answer whistleblower evidence that, as a prosecutor in 2018, she caused an assault-case docket to be leaked to Major-General Feroz Khan, but her testimony was postponed after her counsel said she had been rushed to hospital that morning. Chairperson Mbuyiseli Madlanga dismissed her medical certificate as 'useless', saying such certificates 'give no information whatsoever'; no new date was set. KwaZulu-Natal commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi then testified, describing IDAC as an entity used by top police in internal fights - given as Crime Intelligence head Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo faces an IDAC-investigated criminal charge. All allegations are untested; those named are presumed innocent.
Open'Cat' Matlala withdraws his guilty plea; heads to trial on 11 September
On 13 July 2026, back in the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court, alleged 'Big Five' figure Vusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala withdrew from his plea-and-sentence agreement rather than accept the effective 12-year term the magistrate had proposed in place of the rejected eight-year deal. Magistrate Ignatius du Preez declared the agreement null and void; the guilty plea and sentencing fell away, and the R228 million (advertised R360 million) SAPS Medicare24 tender case - against Matlala and his companies Medicare24 Tshwane District and Luxo Africa Brand Investments - was postponed to 11 September 2026 for trial. The NPA confirmed his plea statement cannot be used in new prosecutions, removing the section 204 state-witness leverage against his former co-accused. With the plea withdrawn, all the charges are once again untested and Matlala is presumed innocent.
OpenDay 138
IDAC head Advocate Andrea Johnson was scheduled to testify before the Madlanga Commission to answer the whistleblower evidence that, as an NPA prosecutor in 2018, she caused an assault-case docket to be leaked to Major-General Feroz Khan, but her testimony was postponed after her counsel told the commission she had been rushed to hospital that morning with undisclosed health issues. Chairperson Mbuyiseli Madlanga dismissed her medical certificate as 'useless', saying such certificates 'give no information whatsoever', and no new date was set. Her no-show drew scrutiny from President Cyril Ramaphosa, who appointed her. With Johnson unavailable, no witness evidence was heard on the docket-leak allegations. All allegations are untested; those named are presumed innocent.
OpenThe 'Ekurhuleni Four' - incl. Mashazi and Julius Mkhwanazi - out on R50,000 bail each
Four Ekurhuleni officials charged in a corruption case tied to Madlanga Commission evidence were, by 10 July 2026, all released on R50,000 bail each from the Germiston Magistrate's Court: suspended EMPD deputy chief Julius Mkhwanazi and suspended legal head Advocate Kemi Behari (granted bail 9 July), and former city manager Dr Imogen Mashazi and former HR head Linda Gxasheka (granted bail 10 July after the NPA dropped its opposition). The state alleges senior City of Ekurhuleni officials shielded Mkhwanazi from disciplinary action after he allegedly fitted police 'blue lights' to private luxury vehicles owned by Vusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala, and that the four benefited from or enabled irregular salary adjustments (about R1.7 million for Mkhwanazi; about R1.3 million each for Behari and Gxasheka). The matter was postponed to 28 August 2026. The charges are untested and all four are presumed innocent. (This Julius Mkhwanazi is the EMPD official, not KZN commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.)
OpenWitness says IDAC head Andrea Johnson shielded Feroz Khan in a 2018 assault case
On 10 July 2026 (Day 137) retired Hawks Colonel Kobus Roelofse testified before the Madlanga Commission that the head of the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC), Advocate Andrea Johnson, interfered in a 2018 assault investigation in which suspended Crime Intelligence deputy head Major-General Feroz Khan was the suspect. Roelofse said Johnson improperly obtained contents of the police docket - stemming from Brigadier Leonora Phetlhe's complaint that Khan had assaulted her with a pen - and forwarded them by email to Khan before he had been charged, allegedly letting him tailor his account. The commission also ruled that two further protected witnesses, 'Witness N' and 'Witness O', would give parts of their evidence in camera. All allegations are untested; Khan and Johnson are presumed innocent.
OpenDay 137
Retired Hawks Colonel Kobus Roelofse - one of four police officers who testified this day - told the Madlanga Commission that the head of the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC), Advocate Andrea Johnson, interfered in a 2018 assault investigation in which suspended SAPS Crime Intelligence deputy head Major-General Feroz Khan was the suspect. The evidence was that, as an NPA prosecutor, Johnson caused the contents of the police docket - arising from Brigadier Leonora Phetlhe's complaint that Khan assaulted her with a pen at Crime Intelligence headquarters on 26 June 2018 - to be emailed to a Crime Intelligence officer (who testified as a protected witness) on 4 July 2018, comprising 12 images and an audio file of the docket; the officer printed them and handed them to Khan before he had given his warning statement, which Roelofse said let Khan tailor his account. Hawks officer Mark McLean also testified that then National Director of Public Prosecutions Advocate Shamila Batohi allegedly blocked the Hawks' probe into Johnson. The commission ruled that two protected witnesses, 'Witness N' and 'Witness O', would give parts of their evidence in camera on safety grounds. All allegations are untested; Khan, Johnson and Batohi are presumed innocent and have not answered them before the commission.
OpenRamaphosa extends the commission to 16 November 2026
On 9 July 2026 President Cyril Ramaphosa extended the Madlanga Commission's deadlines, moving the date for its final report from 31 August to 16 November 2026 and setting an evidence deadline of 2 October 2026. The commission had asked for more time on 7 July, its spokesperson Jeremy Michaels citing a mounting workload as it races through the police-corruption evidence. The extension is an administrative decision by the Presidency, not a finding on any matter before the commission.
OpenPublic hearings resume; World Bank expert exposes police lifestyle-audit loopholes
On 9 July 2026 (Day 136) the Madlanga Commission returned to public hearings after the previous day's closed session for 'Witness M'. World Bank anti-corruption expert Dr Albertus Schoeman testified on weaknesses in the SAPS financial-disclosure and lifestyle-audit systems, telling the commission that no SAPS officials faced lifestyle investigations across 2021/22 to 2023/24, that only five of 823 senior managers were audited in 2024/25 (all cleared), and that because disclosure forms exclude family members, assets can be hidden in relatives' names. The commission confirmed the same day that President Ramaphosa had extended its deadlines - public evidence to conclude by 2 October and the final report due 16 November 2026. This is evidence and administration, not a finding.
OpenDay 136
The Madlanga Commission returned to public hearings after the previous day's closed session for 'Witness M'. World Bank anti-corruption expert Dr Albertus Schoeman, a task-team leader on the World Bank's anti-corruption programme in Southern Africa, testified on structural weaknesses in the SAPS financial-disclosure and lifestyle-audit systems. He told the commission that no SAPS officials faced lifestyle investigations across the 2021/22 to 2023/24 years, that only five of 823 senior managers were audited in 2024/25 - all of whom were cleared - and that because disclosure forms exclude family members, assets can be hidden in relatives' names. The commission also confirmed that President Cyril Ramaphosa had extended its deadlines, with public evidence now to conclude by 2 October 2026 and the final report due by 16 November 2026. Nothing in the evidence is a finding; the systemic gaps described are matters for the commission's report.
Open'Witness M' granted in-camera testimony; public hearings close for several days
On 8 July 2026 (Day 135) chairperson retired Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga granted an unopposed application by an anonymous businessman, referred to only as 'Witness M', to testify entirely in camera, suspending the Madlanga Commission's public hearings for several days. Witness M sought a closed session citing serious risks to his safety - surveillance vehicles outside his home, anonymous phone calls and a fear of being killed, saying he had moved his family. The evidence leaders indicated he would speak to one of the major 2021 cocaine busts under investigation and that his account touches on politically exposed individuals, organised-crime families, drug syndicates, terrorist organisations and law-enforcement officers. Madlanga said the commission could not say how long the closed session would run and adjourned; no public evidence was heard. Nothing in the ruling is a finding; all matters remain untested and anyone who may be named is presumed innocent.
OpenBrown Mogotsi's criminal case postponed to 3 August
On 8 July 2026 the criminal case against North West businessman Brown Mogotsi was postponed in the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court to 3 August 2026, to allow his defence to study video footage said to relate to an alleged staged attack on his own vehicle. Mogotsi - a figure named across the Madlanga Commission's evidence, including as an alleged conduit in the Medicare24 tender chain - has been in custody since 15 May 2026 and faces charges including perjury, defeating the ends of justice and unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition. The charges are untested and he is presumed innocent; his commission-related allegations likewise remain untested.
OpenDay 135
Chairperson retired Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga granted an unopposed application by an anonymous businessman, referred to only as 'Witness M', to testify entirely in camera, closing the commission's public hearings for several days. Witness M had asked for his evidence to be heard behind closed doors citing serious risks to his safety - surveillance vehicles outside his home, anonymous phone calls and a fear of being killed, saying he had moved his family - and the commission accepted the risk was real; media houses did not oppose the application. The evidence leaders indicated Witness M would speak to one of the major 2021 cocaine busts under investigation, and that his account touches on politically exposed individuals, organised-crime families, drug syndicates, terrorist organisations and law-enforcement officers. Madlanga said the commission could not say how long the closed session would run - 'At this stage, we have no idea by when it will be done; I can't announce that we will resume in open session' - and adjourned. No public evidence was heard. Nothing in the ruling is a finding; all matters remain untested and anyone who may be named is presumed innocent.
OpenCommission asks the Presidency for more time as the 31 August deadline looms
On 7 July 2026 the Madlanga Commission confirmed it was in discussions with the Presidency over a possible extension, with spokesperson Jeremy Michaels saying the inquiry was grappling with an increasingly demanding workload as commissioners raced to conclude hearings and compile their reports, then due by 31 August 2026. President Ramaphosa granted the extension two days later, on 9 July. This is a procedural and administrative development, not a finding on any allegation before the commission.
Open'Cat' Matlala's commission testimony set down for 15 July
On 7 July 2026 the Madlanga Commission rescheduled the testimony of alleged 'Big Five' cartel figure Vusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala to 15 July 2026, after his 7 July appearance was postponed at the evidence leaders' request. His legal team appeared and he was seen briefly by video link from Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Centre; chairperson Mbuyiseli Madlanga ordered his written statement filed by 8 July and set the date deliberately two days after his plea-and-sentence matter returns to the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on 13 July, where a proposed 12-year sentence awaits his and the NPA's decision. The cartel and attempted-murder allegations against him remain untested; he is presumed innocent of them.
OpenCommission details Khan's alleged unexplained wealth: ~R39m in property and 30 vehicles
On 7 July 2026 (Day 134) evidence leader Advocate Adila Hassim SC took the Madlanga Commission through what she called suspended Crime Intelligence deputy head Major-General Feroz Khan's unexplained wealth, with his evidence again led in his absence as he remained hospitalised after the 28 June shooting. She submitted that records showed income of roughly two-and-a-half times his police salary from undisclosed sources, a car-parts business generating about R3 million a year, some 30 vehicles bought in a single year and a property portfolio estimated at about R39 million, and alleged he had helped manipulate a tender to supply car parts to SAPS. The public portion of the evidence against Khan then concluded, with a further portion to be heard in camera. Khan has not answered any of this before the commission; it is untested and he is presumed innocent.
OpenWhatsApps allege a plot to oust the intelligence watchdog; Malema denies in an affidavit
On 7 July 2026 (Day 134) evidence leader Advocate Matthew Chaskalson SC led WhatsApp messages from Major-General Feroz Khan's seized phone which he said show Khan and tobacco businessman Mohamed 'Mo' Sayed plotting to trap the then Inspector-General of Intelligence, Dr Setlhomamaru Dintwe, into a false statement so his removal could be demanded - an 11-12 June 2021 exchange of prepared questions in which Khan allegedly wrote 'this should get him to lie, and in return we can ask for his removal', referencing questions EFF leader Julius Malema had allegedly forwarded ('Juju sent me now'). Malema, who is not a commission witness, filed a responding affidavit that was read into the record, stating 'I deny that I conspired to orchestrate the removal of Dr Dintwe' and saying he could not verify the authenticity of the messages. All allegations are untested; Khan and Malema are presumed innocent.
OpenDay 134
The Madlanga Commission continued leading evidence against suspended SAPS Crime Intelligence deputy head Major-General Feroz Khan in his absence, with Khan still hospitalised after the 28 June shooting. Evidence leader Advocate Adila Hassim SC took the commission through Khan's alleged unexplained wealth: records that, she submitted, showed income of roughly two-and-a-half times his police salary from undisclosed sources, a car-parts business generating about R3 million a year, some 30 vehicles bought in a single year and a property portfolio estimated at about R39 million, alongside an allegation that Khan helped manipulate a tender to supply car parts to SAPS. Evidence leader Advocate Matthew Chaskalson SC then led WhatsApp messages from Khan's seized phone which he said show Khan and tobacco businessman Mohamed 'Mo' Sayed plotting to trap the then Inspector-General of Intelligence, Dr Setlhomamaru Dintwe, into a false statement so that his removal could be demanded - an 11-12 June 2021 exchange of prepared questions in which Khan allegedly wrote 'this should get him to lie, and in return we can ask for his removal coz he lied', with EFF leader Julius Malema referenced as having sent questions ('Juju sent me now'). Malema, who is not a commission witness, filed a responding affidavit that was read into the record, denying that he conspired to orchestrate Dintwe's removal and saying he could not verify the authenticity of the messages. The commission also confirmed it had asked the Presidency for more time, its interim and final reports then due by 31 August 2026 - a deadline President Ramaphosa extended to 16 November 2026 (with an evidence deadline of 2 October) on 9 July. All allegations are untested; Khan and Malema are presumed innocent.
OpenKhan's disclosures show a 30-car fleet; commission calls for a probe into a journalist's burglary
As the Madlanga Commission continued leading evidence against suspended Crime Intelligence deputy head Major-General Feroz Khan in his absence on 6 July 2026 (Day 133), evidence leader Advocate Adila Hassim SC told the commission Khan's financial-disclosure forms lurched from declaring zero vehicles in 2023 to a mixed luxury-and-vintage fleet of about 30 cars in 2024, with no explanatory comments, submitting he had lived far beyond a police salary. She also asked investigators to probe Khan's possible involvement in the March 2021 burglary at the home of Daily Maverick journalist Marianne Thamm - both her laptops stolen two months after she reported on SAPS Covid-19 PPE corruption - citing a WhatsApp message in which Khan said 'a counter should be activated on the journalist'. The day fell exactly one year after Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi's 6 July 2025 press conference that sparked the inquiry. All allegations are untested; Khan is presumed innocent.
Open'Cat' Matlala's 7 July appearance postponed to a date to be determined
The Madlanga Commission confirmed on 6 July 2026 that alleged 'Big Five' cartel figure Vusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala - subpoenaed on 2 July to appear the next day, Tuesday 7 July - would no longer take the stand this week. The commission's evidence leaders sought the postponement 'due to the heightened media and public interest in the testimony of Mr Vusimuzi Matlala', with his appearance moved to a date to be determined; his legal representative will appear in person on 7 July in his place. Matlala remains held at Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Centre in Pretoria and is still described as a 'central figure' in the inquiry. The cartel and attempted-murder allegations against him remain untested; he is presumed innocent of them.
OpenLt-Gen Mfazi's 2021 death investigated as murder; police raid SAPS-linked properties
The July 2021 death of Lieutenant-General Sindile Mfazi - former SAPS Deputy National Commissioner for Crime Detection, originally recorded as Covid-19-related - is now being investigated as a murder after his body was exhumed and a poisonous substance was found. On 6 July 2026 police raided four premises linked to SAPS members in Centurion, questioned a person of interest and seized electronic devices. At his death Mfazi was involved in probes into the SAPS Secret Services Account and alleged corruption in roughly R1.6 billion of Covid-19 personal-protective-equipment contracts. Mfazi is the senior officer businessman Itumeleng 'Tumelo' Nku told the Madlanga Commission he had alerted to the 2021 Aeroton cocaine consignment. Authorities say they cannot yet outline a motive; no one has been charged and any person of interest is presumed innocent.
OpenEvidence probes Khan's link to a ~R3.5m London trip funded for a city official
As it led evidence against Major-General Feroz Khan in his absence (Day 133, 6 July 2026), the Madlanga Commission examined Khan's alleged awareness of a roughly R3.5 million private-jet weekend to London that politically connected Gauteng businessman Zesimdumise 'Ze' Nxumalo allegedly funded for former Ekurhuleni city manager Dr Imogen Mashazi. The link to Khan runs through Carnilinx executive Mohamed 'Mo' Sayed, who on 12 October 2022 forwarded Khan the trip's immigration and aviation documents; the money in evidence flowed from XET Solutions through Nxumalo's ZIG Revenue Management to the charter operator. Evidence leader Advocate Adila Hassim SC stressed there is at this stage no evidence of a quid pro quo, only that a flight of that value 'invites the inference' of an expected return. All of it is untested; Khan, Nxumalo and Mashazi are presumed innocent.
OpenDay 133
The Madlanga Commission continued leading evidence against suspended Crime Intelligence deputy head Major-General Feroz Khan in his absence - one year to the day after Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi's 6 July 2025 press conference first aired the corruption allegations that led to the inquiry. Evidence leader Advocate Adila Hassim SC detailed what she called a pattern of financial beneficiation between Khan and businessman Mohamed 'Mo' Sayed spanning a 2021 SAPS personal-protective-equipment tender and a police IT contract. She told the commission Khan's financial-disclosure forms lurched from declaring zero vehicles in 2023 to a mixed luxury-and-vintage fleet of 30 cars in 2024, with no explanatory comments, submitting that he had lived far beyond a police salary. Hassim also asked investigators to probe Khan's possible involvement in the March 2021 burglary at the home of Daily Maverick journalist Marianne Thamm - both her laptops were stolen two months after she reported on SAPS Covid-19 PPE corruption - citing a WhatsApp message in which Khan said 'a counter should be activated on the journalist': 'You can't conclusively show it was linked to the WhatsApp exchange, but the sequence is alarming, and I raise it because it requires further investigation.' She said the record showed 'a pattern of abusing Crime Intelligence resources for his own personal gains'. All allegations are untested; Khan is presumed innocent.
OpenCommission begins leading evidence against Khan in his absence: alleged tender facilitation for Mo Sayed
With Major-General Feroz Khan still hospitalised after the 28 June shooting, the Madlanga Commission began leading evidence against him in his absence on 3 July 2026 (Day 132). Evidence leader Advocate Adila Hassim SC took the commission through WhatsApp chats extracted from Khan's seized phone that she said show him acting as a 'willing facilitator' of government tenders for tobacco businessman Mohamed 'Mo' Sayed - a 12 January 2021 SAPS face-mask enquiry, a 5 June 2021 request to check contract detail from 'Fanie' (suspended SAPS supply-chain commissioner Molefe Fani, also acting Treasury procurement head), and 7 July 2021 voice notes on Covid-19 test-kit volumes - submitting that 'at no point did Khan attempt to reject the arrangement'. She also pointed to a related Treasury IT contract allegedly facilitated by Khan and Fani. All allegations are untested; Khan, Sayed and Fani are presumed innocent.
OpenDay 132
With suspended SAPS Crime Intelligence deputy head Major-General Feroz Khan still hospitalised after the 28 June shooting and unable to appear, the Madlanga Commission began leading evidence against him in his absence. Evidence leader Advocate Adila Hassim SC took the commission through WhatsApp chats extracted from Khan's phone - seized around 10 May 2026 when he was arrested - which she said show Khan acting as a 'willing facilitator' of government tenders for tobacco businessman Mohamed 'Mo' Sayed. The messages, dated through 2021, include a 12 January exchange in which Sayed asked how to secure a SAPS face-mask contract and Khan told him to send prices and samples; a 5 June message asking Khan to check contract detail from 'Fanie' - suspended SAPS supply-chain divisional commissioner Molefe Fani, who also acted as head of procurement at National Treasury; and 7 July voice notes about Covid-19 test-kit volumes. Hassim submitted that 'at no point did Khan attempt to reject the arrangement', and pointed to a related IT contract between Treasury and a private company allegedly facilitated by Khan and Fani. All allegations are untested; Khan, Sayed and Fani are presumed innocent.
Open
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