Madlanga Commission hearing record
Day 138 of the Madlanga Commission
Witness: Advocate Andrea Johnson
Summoned to answer whistleblower evidence that she leaked a docket to protect General Khan in 2018, IDAC head Andrea Johnson is a no-show - rushed to hospital, her sick note dismissed by the chairperson as 'useless' and her conduct drawing presidential scrutiny.
The day in brief
What you need to know
- IDAC head Andrea Johnson was scheduled to testify but did not appear - her counsel said she had been rushed to hospital that morning.
- Chairperson Madlanga dismissed her medical certificate as 'useless', saying it 'gives no information whatsoever'; no new date was set.
- Her no-show drew scrutiny from President Cyril Ramaphosa, who appointed her.
- She was summoned to answer evidence that, as a prosecutor in 2018, she caused an assault-case docket to be leaked to General Feroz Khan before he was charged.
Full coverage
The day, in depth
The witness who did not come
IDAC head Advocate Andrea Johnson was the scheduled witness, summoned to answer the whistleblower evidence led the previous week: that as an NPA prosecutor in 2018 she caused the contents of a police docket - arising from Brigadier Leonora Phetlhe's complaint that Major-General Feroz Khan had assaulted her with a pen - to be emailed to a Crime Intelligence officer and handed to Khan before he had given his warning statement, allegedly letting him tailor his account. She did not appear. Her counsel told the commission she had been rushed to hospital that morning with undisclosed health issues.
'Useless' sick notes
Chairperson Justice Madlanga was scathing about the medical certificate submitted in support of the postponement, saying it was 'one of those medical certificates, the nature of which I've previously said are useless, in the sense that they give no information whatsoever'. No new date was set. With the head of the country's anti-corruption directorate now among a growing list of witnesses delayed on medical grounds, her absence drew public scrutiny from President Cyril Ramaphosa, who had appointed her.
In their words
Key moments from the record
“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.”
Follow the threads
Who Advocate Andrea Johnson connects to
Lieutenant General Seswantsho Godfrey Lebeya
Evidence in July 2026 was that a misconduct complaint about Johnson reached the then Hawks national head, who raised it with then NDPP Advocate Shamila Batohi and asked for an independent prosecutor. On Day 168 Lebeya confirmed he discussed the allegations with Batohi. Untested; Johnson denies the surrounding allegations and is presumed innocent.
View profile →Alleged to have shielded himMajor-General Feroz Khan
A whistleblower alleged Johnson, as an NPA prosecutor in 2018, leaked an assault-case docket to Khan before he was charged. Testifying on Day 144, she said her 'memory needed jogging', called Khan 'very affable', and invoked her right against self-incrimination. Untested; both presumed innocent.
View profile →Her directorate charged himLieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo
IDAC charged the Crime Intelligence head in June 2025 over the Mokwele appointment. Johnson conceded at the commission that she had erred on IDAC's mandate and had never verified Mokwele's qualifications; the NPA withdrew the case on 27 July 2026, the day her resignation was accepted. Untested; both presumed innocent.
View profile →Her prosecutor, now a witness against herAdvocate Drushantha Ramsamy
Ramsamy was a state advocate under Johnson at IDAC and worked the Crime Intelligence docket. On Day 151 she played a recording of a 26 July call in which Johnson allegedly told her to leave the country rather than testify, and testified that Johnson drove 'Project Diversion' against Masemola and Khumalo. Johnson has not answered it; untested, both presumed innocent.
View profile →Her lead investigator; both now out of IDACColonel Brian Padayachee
Padayachee ran the Crime Intelligence case Johnson authorised and defended it across Days 139-141. She resigned on 26 July 2026; he was suspended by the NDPP on 30 July pending a disciplinary process. Neither step is a finding; both are presumed innocent.
View profile →The prosecutor who warned her in writingAdvocate Peter Serunye
Serunye, a Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions at IDAC, emailed Johnson that there was at most a prima facie case of fraud and no case of corruption in the Crime Intelligence matter. He testified on Day 153 that at a 1 September 2025 meeting she asked why he would not accept the investigators' assurances and urged the prosecution to proceed. Johnson has not answered it from the stand; untested, both presumed innocent.
View profile →Her head of investigations, bypassed on the reporting lineMatthews Sesoko
Sesoko testified on Day 155 that after his return to duty in January 2026 the chief investigators reported directly to Johnson rather than to him, and that his own duties were reduced largely to administrative matters. Johnson has not answered it; untested, both presumed innocent.
View profile →The investigator her office disciplinedMantsha Robert Raphesu
Raphesu produced a 7 February 2025 disciplinary letter from Johnson's office accusing him of leaking confidential information, which he denies, and testified on Day 152 that she put a false version of the founding section 27 referral before Parliament's ad hoc committee. Johnson has not answered either; untested, both presumed innocent.
View profile →In the room & on the record
Counsel, the panel and sources
On the panel
- Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga (chairperson)