Madlanga Commission hearing record
Day 146 of the Madlanga Commission
Witness: Advocate Andrea Johnson
Evidence led by Advocate Mahlape Sello SC
A third day on the stand for the IDAC head: Andrea Johnson gives evidence on the section 27 affidavit that led to Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo's arrest, and on the whistleblower claim that she shielded General Feroz Khan in 2018.
The day in brief
What you need to know
- Johnson resumed a third consecutive day, giving evidence on the section 27 referral affidavit that founded the arrest of Crime Intelligence head Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo and six other officials.
- She addressed the involvement of senior investigator Suneel Bellochun in the Khumalo matter.
- She testified that Khumalo's arrest was unrelated to the work of the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT).
- The day extended the commission's three-day scrutiny of whether IDAC had the mandate and the evidence to bring the Crime Intelligence prosecutions.
Full coverage
The day, in depth
Day three: the affidavit behind the arrests
Advocate Andrea Johnson, head of the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC), returned for a third consecutive day at the Madlanga Commission. Her evidence turned to the section 27 referral affidavit - the founding document that led to the June 2025 arrest of Crime Intelligence head Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo and six other officials over the allegedly irregular appointment of Brigadier Dineo Mokwele. Across her three days the commission has pressed a single underlying question: did IDAC have both the statutory mandate and the evidentiary foundation to bring these prosecutions at all, a question the panel had already put sharply to IDAC investigator Brian Padayachee over Days 139 to 141.
Bellochun, and the PKTT question
Johnson addressed the role of senior IDAC investigator Suneel Bellochun in the Khumalo matter - Bellochun being one of the officials MK Party MP Vusi Shongwe had named as part of an alleged 'Indian cabal' said to link IDAC figures to Major-General Feroz Khan, an allegation both Padayachee and Johnson have rejected. She also testified that Khumalo's arrest was unrelated to the work of the Political Killings Task Team, the unit whose activities sit elsewhere in the commission's inquiry. This is the commission testing how the Crime Intelligence case was assembled; it is not a finding against anyone named.
Our analysis
The bottom line
By her third day, the shape of Johnson's evidence was clear: a directorate defending both its jurisdiction and its judgement. Having conceded the day before that IDAC erred on whether the Khumalo matter fell within its mandate, her task on this day was to hold the line that the arrests themselves were evidence-led and not, as critics allege, a weapon in a police turf war.
This day was still under way and drew thinner independent reporting than her dramatic first two appearances, so we have kept our account to what the record and early coverage support. The fuller measure of Johnson's testimony - and whether the commission accepts that IDAC's Crime Intelligence prosecutions rest on more than 'sparse facts' - is a question for the commission's report, not for us.
Analysis is the archive’s own comment on the public proceedings, grounded in the record above. It weighs the evidence and the process; questions of individual guilt are for the courts and the commission to decide. Everyone named is presumed innocent.
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 →Zoom out
Related case files
Khumalo / Mokwele appointment
IDAC charged a Crime Intelligence boss over a civilian's appointment. Sixteen days of testimony left the commission asking what the crime actually was - and by the end the prosecuting authority had withdrawn the case, IDAC's head had resigned, four of her own officials had testified against it, three senior investigators were suspended, and the chairperson had raised shutting the directorate down.
Read the case file →Case file - Political interferenceKhan-Malema-Sayed network
A crime intelligence general, a cigarette businessman, and a political leader - the Nyatlo affidavit traces an alleged network of mutual protection spanning police contracts, parliamentary questions, and a private complainant's home address.
Read the case file →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
- Advocate Sandile Khumalo SC