The Madlanga Commission

Public access hearings in South Africa: how to attend, watch and get records

Which South African hearings are open to the public, how to attend or stream them, where records live, and what to do when a hearing or document is closed.

Published 2026-10-24

Public access hearings in South Africa: how to attend, watch and get records

Public access hearings in South Africa: how to attend, watch and get records

Visitor observing proceedings from a hearing gallery

Most hearings in South Africa are open to the public, but “open” means different things depending on the forum. Parliamentary committees, courts and judicial commissions of inquiry each follow their own rules on who may attend, what gets broadcast and which documents are published. This guide explains each forum, shows you where to watch and read, and tells you what to do when a hearing is closed or a record is not online.

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TL;DR

Table of Contents

What “public access” means in a South African hearing

There are three separate things a reader might mean by public access:

  1. Attendance: sitting in the room or public gallery.
  2. Broadcast: watching a livestream or later recording.
  3. Records: reading transcripts, exhibits, rulings, minutes and reports.

A hearing can be open on the first and closed on the third, or the reverse. A commission may stream testimony live, for example, while keeping a witness statement or exhibit confidential. Keeping the three apart makes it much easier to work out what you are entitled to and whom to ask.

The legal footing differs too. Section 34 of the Constitution gives everyone the right to have a dispute decided in a fair public hearing before a court or another independent and impartial forum. Parliament has its own constitutional duty of openness. Inquiries are created by the President and operate under their own terms of reference and regulations.

Parliament and its committees

Parliament is the easiest forum to access. Under the Constitution, the National Assembly and its committees must conduct their business in an open manner and facilitate public involvement. Sittings are held in public unless reasonable and justifiable measures restrict access.

In practice, committee meetings are generally open to the public and may be closed only when there is a good reason. Committees also give the public a platform to put views directly to MPs. A committee may, for instance, invite people who submitted comment on a Bill to address it.

Attending in person

When Parliament is sitting, members of the public can watch debates from the public gallery, and committee meetings are also open to observation, according to Parliament’s own PAIA manual. Check the committee schedule on the Parliament website before you travel, because meetings move and venues change.

Watching remotely

Many committee meetings are streamed. A 2025 Parliament media advisory on a hearing with a senior police officer said the meeting would be live-streamed on YouTube. Broadcast of proceedings is subject to conditions set by the Houses or the relevant committee chairpersons under the Powers, Privileges and Immunities of Parliament and Provincial Legislatures Act, as the Joint Rules of Parliament record.

Where the records are

Committee minutes, reports and member speeches are generally open to the public and are published on the Parliament website. Start there for anything that has already been tabled or adopted.

Courts: open justice, with a judge in charge

Court cases are public by default. The consolidated practice directive for the high courts, issued in 2024, treats open justice as a default principle. It also says physical courtrooms remain the norm, with hybrid or video-link hearings allowed where there are sound policy reasons and effective, fair access for the parties and the public is kept.

Three practical points follow for readers:

What you read afterwards is also public in a different way. Judgments are widely published, but the full court record, the underlying file and the transcript may not be. Transcripts are usually bought from the court transcription service, and access to a case file may need permission from the registrar or a formal request.

Commissions of inquiry: public hearings with their own rules

A judicial commission of inquiry is neither a court nor a parliamentary committee. It is established to investigate defined matters and report to the President, and its public sessions are run by its chairperson under its terms of reference.

The Madlanga Commission is the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Criminality, Political Interference and Corruption in the Criminal Justice System. Its hearings have been carried live by broadcasters, for instance on the SABC+ Madlanga Commission channel, so you can follow testimony without being in the room.

Watching a long hearing day is a heavy commitment, though. Testimony runs for hours, witnesses are recalled, exhibits are referred to by number, and the thread of a story can stretch across weeks. That is the gap a searchable archive fills.

Why a live stream is not a public record

A stream disappears into your timeline. A record lets you check who said what, on which day, against which document. For journalists and legal professionals this matters: a quote must be verifiable, and a pattern across several witnesses must be traceable. For citizens it means you can follow developments without sitting through the live feed.

Live stream and public record comparison

Where hearing access gets limited

Openness has boundaries, and knowing them saves time.

Confidential and in camera material

Documents declared confidential, or evidence given in camera, cannot be published or disclosed without the express permission of the presiding authority or committee. If you are a journalist or researcher, treat that as a hard line: publishing without permission can create legal exposure for you, not only for the source. Our explainer on in camera hearings in South Africa sets out how and why such sessions happen and what typically happens to the evidence afterwards.

Registration for journalists

Parliament asks journalists who want to cover committee meetings, including virtual ones, to email their cellphone numbers from their official email addresses to the named contact in the advisory. The same advisory directs journalists to use official addresses when requesting information or meeting links from Parliamentary Communications Services. Do this early. Meeting links are sent out ahead of the session, not during it.

Broadcast conditions

Even an open meeting may come with rules on cameras, photographs or live posting. Committee chairpersons set these, so follow the instructions given at the start of a session and in the media advisory.

How to follow a hearing step by step

  1. Identify the forum. Is it a parliamentary committee, a court or a commission? The rules above depend on this.
  2. Find the schedule. Committee programmes are on the Parliament website, court rolls are at the relevant court, and commission hearing dates are announced by the commission and by broadcasters.
  3. Choose your mode. In person, livestream, or later through records.
  4. Register if you are media. Send your details from an official address, as the advisory requires.
  5. Note the exhibit and witness names. They make later searching far faster.
  6. Check for restrictions. Look for in camera sessions, protected identities and confidentiality directions before you quote or share.
  7. Look for published records. Minutes, transcripts, exhibits and rulings are the evidence you can cite.
  8. File a request for what is missing. See the next section.

When the record is not published

The Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) lets the public formally request government records that are not already automatically available. Requesters must use the prescribed form and follow the procedural requirements, according to Parliament’s PAIA manual. People with disabilities, or who cannot read or write, can ask a Deputy Information Officer to complete the forms for them.

Before filing, check whether the document is already public. That saves weeks. Our guide on how to file a PAIA request walks through the form, the information officer and what to do if you are refused. If your interest is specifically in transcripts, this overview of inquiry transcripts shows the quickest routes, and court records access covers the court side.

Comparing the forums at a glance

Forum Attendance Broadcast Records Main limit
Parliamentary committee Generally open Often streamed, subject to chair’s conditions Minutes and reports on the Parliament website Closed for good reason; confidential documents
High court Public seats by default Judge decides on media and recording Judgments published; file and transcript by request Closed or protected matters
Commission of inquiry Per the commission’s arrangements Often broadcast live Depends on the commission; archives can organise it In camera evidence; confidential exhibits

Perspective: why we built an archive instead of another stream

We approach public access from one conviction: a hearing is only public in a meaningful sense if an ordinary person can find out what happened without spending days watching it. The Madlanga Commission examines criminal infiltration, political interference and corruption in the police, prosecution and intelligence sectors. The testimony is long and technical, and the people who most need to understand it, citizens, reporters, lawyers and researchers, rarely have a spare week.

Perspective: why we built an archive instead of another stream — overview diagram

So we organise the proceedings into daily hearing records, witness profiles, exhibits, rulings, statements and media briefings, and we cross-reference them so that a name leads to the testimony, the testimony to the document, and the document to the ruling. Transparency that depends on stamina is not transparency. Our view is that a good public record lets you check a claim in minutes, and leaves the judgement about what it means to you.

We also think readers should know the limits. Where evidence is confidential or heard in camera, an archive must not substitute for the presiding authority’s decision, and we do not suggest otherwise.

— Meriol Lainchyon

Following the Madlanga Commission through our archive

If you want to follow the Commission without watching the live feed, the Investigation Room is where we bring the evidence together. It is free to use. You can search by witness, case or document, read the daily hearing record and move from testimony to exhibits. For wider context on how inquiries like this one fit into the system, see our overview of judicial commissions in South Africa, and for the data side, our piece on open data and justice.

Tips for journalists, lawyers and researchers

Journalists. Register through official channels, note the time stamp of every quote, and confirm with the record before publishing. Check whether a session was in camera, because that changes what you may report.

Legal professionals. Cite the primary record, meaning the transcript, exhibit or ruling, not a news summary. Where you need the court file, ask the registrar and be ready to file a formal request.

Researchers. Build a consistent log of witnesses, dates and exhibit numbers. Searchable archives help you see patterns across hearings, which is hard to do from a stream. Our piece on lessons from state capture shows why that matters.

Citizens and activists. Start with the daily summary, then go deeper into what concerns you. If you think someone may need protection for speaking out, our guide to whistleblower protections explains the legal position.

FAQ

Are court cases open to the public in South Africa?

Yes, as a default. The 2024 high court practice directive treats open justice as a default principle, and anyone can generally sit in the public seats of an open court. A judge can restrict access in particular matters, and the presiding judge governs media access to proceedings and records.

Can I watch a parliamentary committee meeting online?

Often you can. Parliament has streamed committee hearings on YouTube, and journalists wanting to cover virtual meetings must email their details from official addresses to the contact named in the media advisory. Check the committee programme on the Parliament website for the schedule and the viewing link.

What can stop me from reading hearing documents?

Confidentiality and in camera orders are the main barriers. Documents declared confidential or submitted in camera cannot be published without the express permission of the presiding authority or committee. If a record is simply not published, a PAIA request is the formal way to ask for it.

How do I ask for records that are not online?

Use the prescribed PAIA form and follow the procedure set by the body that holds the record. If you cannot read or write, or have a disability, a Deputy Information Officer can complete the form for you. Our PAIA guide explains each step.

Do I need to follow the Madlanga Commission live to keep up?

No. You can watch the broadcast if you wish, but our archive records the daily proceedings, witnesses, exhibits and rulings in searchable form, so you can catch up whenever it suits you.

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