The Madlanga commission is expected to resume sitting on Thursday
The Madlanga commission investigating allegations of corruption in the criminal justice system is still trying to resolve technical glitches which led to an early adjournment on Tuesday to protect the identity of an anonymous witness, spokesperson Jeremy Michaels said on Wednesday.
“The commission is in the process of addressing the technical difficulties which arose during the testimony of Witness X but the problem has not yet been resolved and we continue to seek solutions using available technologies” he said.
On Tuesday, the commission adjourned abruptly after technical glitches risked exposing the identity of the person referred to as Witness X. The commission is expected to resume sitting on Thursday.
“We ran into technical difficulties that had the potential of endangering the safety of Witness X. As a result, we have decided to stop proceeding in accordance with the ruling made by agreement this morning,” commission chairperson retired judge Mbuyiseli Madlanga said at Tuesday’s adjournment.
Madlanga said the decision was not taken lightly because the commission valued and respected transparency. “Transparency is not transparency for transparency’s sake. It is about the interest that the public has on matters that affect them.”
Witness X had provided text messages which connected murder suspect Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala, alleged Mchunu middleman Brown Mogotsi and ANC member Suliman Carrim with Hangwani Maumela, implicated in fraud at Tembisa Hospital. The witness’s testimony was cut short while evidence leader Adil Hassim was going through the text exchanges.
President Cyril Ramaphosa established the Madlanga commission after KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi made allegations of criminality and political interference in the criminal justice system — implicating now suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu — in a July media briefing.
Mkhwanazi later elaborated on the claims before the commission, accusing Mchunu of disbanding a task team on political killings at the behest of a Gauteng-based drug cartel called the “Big Five”, allegedly run by murder suspect Matlala.
National police commissioner Fannie Masemola and head of crime intelligence Dumisani Khumalo, who also appeared before the commission, corroborated Mkhwanazi’s version with text evidence showing that Mogotsi, a North West businessman and alleged associate of Mchunu, solicited cash in exchange for confidential police information.
Mchunu, who denied Mkhwanazi’s July allegations, describing them as “wild”, is expected to tell his side of the story on Thursday before a parliamentary ad hoc committee undertaking its own parallel probe into the claims.
Mchunu’s chief of staff Cedrick Nkabinde has alleged that KwaZulu-Natal police conducted an illegal search and seizure operation at his house on Masemola’s orders.
Nkabinde said the police raided his home in his absence and tried to enter Mchunu’s premises. He claimed they intended to confiscate digital devices containing evidence disproving Mkhwanazi’s allegations.
Before Witness X’s appearance on Tuesday, the Madlanga commission had reached a compromise in a dispute between evidence leaders who wanted to hear testimony behind closed doors to protect witnesses and media organisations News24 and Daily Maverick, which argued that this would impinge on press freedom and the public’s right to access information.
The evidence leaders had requested that the witnesses for the next two weeks be permitted to testify in camera, in the presence of the commissioners and evidence leaders only. They argued that, “In view of the sensitive nature of the evidence to be presented, and the imperative to protect witnesses and safeguard the integrity of the proceedings, it is necessary and appropriate that the hearings for the period 13 October to 17 October 2025 be conducted in camera and that the hearings on 20 to 22 October be anonymised.”
But the media houses contended that a closed session would “imperil the integrity of the commission rather than safeguard it”, adding that the witnesses’ anonymity already ensured their safety.
The commission arrived at a compromise where media would be given limited access to the witnesses statements and be able to listen to the testimony heard through an intermediary. The witnesses’ anonymised statements and exhibits would be displayed live on screen and the transcript of their testimony made publicly available once the proceedings concluded.
But Madlanga stated that “transparency cannot be at the risk of endangering the safety of Witness X”.
“Thus, we must adopt a different format on how Witness X’s evidence must be tendered.”