The Madlanga Commission of Inquiry had to adjourn proceedings earlier this morning after advocate Andrea Johnson, the head of the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption, was rushed to the hospital shortly before she was due to testify.
Johnson, whose testimony is expected to address allegations relating to her handling of an assault docket involving suspended Crime Intelligence Major General Feroz Khan, was scheduled to appear before the commission on Monday morning.
Instead, the commission was informed that she had suffered a medical emergency while travelling to the hearing.
Advocate Apla Bodlani told the commission that Johnson's representatives had received a call from one of her security guards, who informed them that she was being taken to hospital.
He said Johnson was experiencing serious health-related issues that could not be disclosed publicly and a medical certificate indicated she would be unfit to testify until at least 15 July.
Requesting that the commission postpone her appearance, advocate Mahlape Sello said it would be impractical to set a new hearing date immediately because Johnson remained indisposed and there was a possibility that the commission would be asked for another postponement if her recovery took longer than anticipated.
Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga said the commission had little option but to postpone the hearing but criticised the medical certificate submitted in support of the application.
“I noticed that this is one of those medical certificates, the nature of which I've previously said are useless, in the sense that they give no information whatsoever,” Madlanga said. “It's just one of those useless so-called medical certificates. But anyway, the bottom line is that advocate Johnson is not here.”
The commission postponed Johnson's testimony to a date yet to be determined.
Before adjourning, Madlanga asked why the commission could not proceed as it had during previous hearings involving witnesses such as Mike van Wyk and Major General Feroz Khan, where documentary evidence had been placed on record pending further testimony.
Responding on behalf of the commission's evidence leaders, Sello said Johnson's evidence did not lend itself to that approach.
She explained that the earlier hearings relied primarily on WhatsApp exchanges that could be introduced into the record before witnesses returned to provide further explanation. Johnson's evidence, however, comprised a statement and a supplementary statement, both of which were narrative.
Reading the statements into the record without Johnson being present would serve little purpose, Mahlape said, because commissioners would be unable to question her or test the narrative contained in her evidence.
“We would want to engage her or probe her on the narrative that she gives,” Sello said.
She added that the commission did not have another witness available to replace Johnson on today's programme, leaving a postponement the only practical option.
Today’s postponement is not the first time the commission's programme has been disrupted by a witness's ill health.
In February, the testimony of Witness F, later identified as Sergeant Fannie Nkosi, was postponed after he was admitted to hospital. Days later, another scheduled witness also failed to appear because of an illness, prompting further delays and renewed scrutiny of the medical certificates submitted to justify the postponements.
The commission adjourned shortly after Monday's proceedings and is expected to resume at 9.30am on Tuesday with another witness. A new date for Johnson's testimony has not been announced.