Madlanga Commission hearing record
Day 139 of the Madlanga Commission
Witness: Colonel Brian Padayachee
Evidence led by Advocate Mahlape Sello SC
IDAC investigator Brian Padayachee takes the stand to defend the directorate against claims it is a weapon in police infighting - denying an alleged 'Khan cabal' and insisting the case against Khumalo is backed by strong evidence.
The day in brief
What you need to know
- Padayachee denied allegations he ran unlawful phone interceptions for over a decade (raised via businessman Thoshan Panday) as 'baseless and devoid of merit'.
- He rejected an alleged 'Khan-IDAC cabal': 'If such a cabal exists, I am not a party to it.'
- He said IDAC has strong evidence to sustain its case against Crime Intelligence head Dumisani Khumalo.
- This was the first of three days in which the panel dismantled IDAC's theory - here Madlanga first called its logic a 'quantum leap'.
Full coverage
The day, in depth
IDAC on the defensive
With IDAC head Advocate Andrea Johnson's own testimony postponed on medical grounds, senior IDAC investigator Colonel Brian Padayachee took the stand to defend the directorate against a barrage of claims that it had been weaponised in police infighting. He denied allegations - raised through Durban businessman Thoshan Panday - that he had orchestrated unlawful telephone interceptions and covert surveillance for more than a decade, calling them 'baseless and devoid of merit', and insisted the directorate had sufficient evidence to sustain its criminal case against Crime Intelligence head Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo and other officials.
The 'cabal' denial
Padayachee rejected the existence of a so-called 'Khan-IDAC cabal' - an alleged grouping MK Party MP Vusi Shongwe said linked suspended Crime Intelligence deputy head Major-General Feroz Khan, IDAC head Andrea Johnson, senior investigator Suneel Bellochun and himself. He confirmed he knew Khan from earlier work together in Crime Intelligence but said he was not part of any such group. He also disputed KwaZulu-Natal commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi's public criticism of the probe, testifying that Mkhwanazi had in fact known of, and had no issue with, Khumalo's arrest.
The first cracks in the case
It was on this first day that Justice Madlanga began pulling at IDAC's logic, questioning how a civilian's appointment to a specialist technical post could point to criminality and first describing the reasoning as a 'quantum leap'. The theme would dominate the next two days of Padayachee's evidence.
In their words
Key moments from the record
“If such a cabal exists, I am not a party to it. I have never investigated such because I don't know of it and neither am I involved in it.”
Follow the threads
Who Colonel Brian Padayachee connects to
Major-General Feroz Khan
Padayachee rejected MK MP Vusi Shongwe's claim of a 'Khan-IDAC cabal' said to include Khan, saying he was not part of any such group while confirming he knew Khan from prior Crime Intelligence work. Untested allegation; both presumed relevant only as named, not as a finding.
View profile →Lead investigator on the case against himLieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo
Padayachee ran IDAC's fraud and corruption case against the Crime Intelligence head and defended it across Days 139-141 as evidence-led, while the commission questioned its foundation. The NPA withdrew the charges on 27 July 2026. Untested; both presumed innocent.
View profile →IDAC colleague on the same docketAdvocate Drushantha Ramsamy
Padayachee investigated and Ramsamy prosecuted the Crime Intelligence matter. On Day 151 she gave evidence about how the suspects were selected; he was suspended by the NDPP the same day pending a disciplinary process. Untested; both presumed innocent.
View profile →His director; both now out of the directorateAdvocate Andrea Johnson
Padayachee ran the case Johnson authorised. She resigned on 26 July 2026 and he was suspended on 30 July. Neither step is a finding; both are presumed innocent.
View profile →IDAC colleague who intends to lay charges against himMantsha Robert Raphesu
Raphesu told the commission on Day 152 that he intends to open a criminal case against Padayachee and chief investigator Dylan Perumal, alleging they targeted him after he objected to how the Crime Intelligence investigation was run. Padayachee has not answered the allegation; untested, both presumed innocent.
View profile →The prosecutor who found him at an unprepared bail hearingAdvocate Peter Serunye
Serunye testified on Day 153 that at a June 2025 court appearance he found a junior state advocate handling the bail hearing alone with only Padayachee present, the J15 form incomplete and no bail affidavit in existence. Untested; both presumed innocent.
View profile →Investigated on his complaint without the signed affidavitFadiel Adams
Padayachee conceded on Day 141 that he did not have Adams's original signed section 27 affidavit when the investigation commenced, relying on an oral briefing and receiving the sworn statement later - which chairperson Mbuyiseli Madlanga called 'highly improbable'. Untested; both presumed innocent.
View profile →In the room & on the record
Counsel, the panel and sources
Evidence led by
- Advocate Mahlape Sello SC
On the panel
- Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga (chairperson)
- Advocate Sesi Baloyi SC
Sources
- The Citizen - IDAC investigator Padayachee denies part of 'Indian cabal' alongside Feroz Khan ↗
- IOL - Padayachee rejects Mkhwanazi claims, says case against Khumalo backed by strong evidence (14 Jul 2026) ↗
- Daily Maverick - Investigator denies knowledge of political interference in IDAC or a 'Feroz Khan cabal' (14 Jul 2026) ↗