Madlanga Commission hearing record
Day 26 of the Madlanga Commission
Witness: Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo
Evidence led by Advocate Adila Hassim SC
Witness: General Dumisani Khumalo. The suspended SAPS Crime Intelligence head wraps up a marathon return to the stand, his testimony extended by several hours so that evidence leader Adila Hassim could close his evidence before he was due in court the next morning.
The day in brief
What you need to know
- Lt-Gen Dumisani Khumalo returned on 5 November 2025 to conclude testimony he had been unable to finish in early October after a sudden illness forced him off the stand.
- His evidence was extended by several hours as evidence leader Adila Hassim pushed to wrap up, because Khumalo was due to appear in court the following morning in the fraud and corruption matter against him.
- Across his sittings Khumalo detailed his account of how sophisticated organised-crime networks had, in his telling, infiltrated the police, prosecution and intelligence services.
- He linked suspended police officer Shadrack Sibiya to alleged criminal syndicates during his testimony, an allegation Sibiya denies.
- Khumalo appeared while himself facing an IDAC fraud and corruption case tied to the allegedly irregular appointment of Brigadier Dineo Mokwele, a case he disputes.
- The panel heard his evidence against the backdrop of that live prosecution, underscoring the overlap between the commission's fact-finding and parallel criminal proceedings.
Full coverage
The day, in depth
A testimony finished under the clock
After illness cut short his October appearance, Khumalo returned to complete his evidence. According to EWN, his testimony on the Wednesday was extended by several hours as evidence leader Advocate Adila Hassim sought to conclude so that he could attend court the next morning. The scheduling pressure reflected Khumalo's unusual position as both a commission witness and a criminal accused.
Naming names on syndicate infiltration
IOL reported that during this stretch of testimony Khumalo linked suspended senior officer Shadrack Sibiya to criminal syndicates, part of his broader account of organised-crime penetration of the state. These are untested allegations made before the commission; Sibiya is presumed innocent and has rejected the claims.
Our analysis
The bottom line
Khumalo occupies one of the most conflicted seats the commission has seen. He is simultaneously a witness describing cartel infiltration of the state and an accused answering an IDAC fraud case over the Mokwele appointment. That duality means his evidence must be weighed with care - it is testimony from a man with an obvious stake in how the commission and the courts characterise the very investigation targeting him.
The rush to finish his evidence before a court appearance also illustrates a structural tension running through these hearings: the commission's search for the fuller picture keeps colliding with live prosecutions. Nothing Khumalo said here is a finding, and his allegations against figures such as Sibiya remain claims to be tested. What the day cemented is that the Crime Intelligence chapter is now inseparable from the legal battle over whether Khumalo should have been charged at all.
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.
On the record
Who testified this day
Follow the threads
Who Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo connects to
Katiso 'KT' Molefe
Khumalo September 2025 evidence named Molefe among those he alleged led the Gauteng syndicate the record calls the Big Five. Molefe has never given evidence to the commission and has not answered it. Untested; both presumed innocent.
View profile →The retired Hawks head who says he was not toldLieutenant General Seswantsho Godfrey Lebeya
On Day 168 Lebeya testified that the operation to arrest Katiso Molefe on 6 December 2024 was never communicated to him and that the obligation to inform the national head sat with the provincial commissioner in consultation with Khumalo. Khumalo has not answered that account; untested, both presumed innocent.
View profile →Headed the directorate that charged himAdvocate Andrea Johnson
Johnson led IDAC when it charged Khumalo in June 2025. Testifying in July 2026 she conceded she had erred in finding the matter fell within IDAC's mandate and had never verified Mokwele's qualifications; the NPA withdrew the case on 27 July 2026. Untested; both presumed innocent.
View profile →Lead investigator on his caseColonel Brian Padayachee
Padayachee was IDAC's lead investigator on the Khumalo/Mokwele matter and was cross-examined across Days 139-141, defending the case as evidence-led while the commission questioned its foundation. Untested.
View profile →Cited his prosecution as police infightingLieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi
Returning on Day 138, Mkhwanazi told the commission IDAC was being used by senior police in internal fights and pointed to the criminal charge against Khumalo. Padayachee disputed his account. Competing accounts, not findings.
View profile →The prosecutor on the case against himAdvocate Drushantha Ramsamy
Ramsamy was the IDAC state advocate on the Crime Intelligence docket. On Day 151 she testified that the directorate's leadership settled the suspects before the evidence was made, describing an 'orchestrated attack' on Khumalo and national commissioner Fannie Masemola. The NPA provisionally withdrew the charges on 27 July 2026. Untested; all presumed innocent.
View profile →The prosecutor who inherited his case and called it prematureAdvocate Peter Serunye
Serunye took over the prosecution on 8 August 2025 and testified on Day 153 that Khumalo and six co-accused were arrested before the investigation was complete, and that the corruption charge had no identifiable quid pro quo. The NPA provisionally withdrew the charges on 27 July 2026. Untested; both presumed innocent.
View profile →IDAC's head of investigations, who did not intervene in his docketMatthews Sesoko
Sesoko told the commission on Day 155 why he did not 'impose himself' on the Crime Intelligence investigation, citing his experience at his previous employer, his November 2025 abduction and having been unlawfully charged himself. Untested; both presumed innocent.
View profile →His section 27 complaint founded the caseFadiel Adams
Adams's referral to IDAC founded the investigation that led to charges against Khumalo and six co-accused. The paperwork attributed to Adams has been disputed from several directions at the commission; the NPA provisionally withdrew the charges on 27 July 2026, before plea. Untested; both presumed innocent.
View profile →Named on Day 163 as the ultimate source of the allegations against himMajor-General Andre Lincoln
Adams told the commission that about 90 percent of what he alleged about Khumalo's vetting and appointment came from the late Major-General Andre Lincoln, who died on 30 May 2025 and has answered none of it. Untested; all presumed innocent.
View profile →The inspectorate that assessed the dockets opened against himLieutenant-General Peter Jacobs
The six dockets Adams opened against Khumalo and other senior Crime Intelligence officers were called to Pretoria by the SAPS Inspectorate under Lieutenant-General Peter Jacobs, whose Colonel Phillips reported on 20 November 2024 that the affidavits were superficial and believed to be hearsay. Untested; all presumed innocent.
View profile →The appointment that founded the case against himBrigadier Dineo Mokwele
The whole fraud and corruption case rested on Mokwele's appointment to head Crime Intelligence's Technical Support Services. They were arrested together on 26 June 2025 and cleared together on 21 August 2026. Untested; both presumed innocent.
View profile →The watchdog who recommended charges against himImtiaz Fazel
Before his own suspension, the Inspector-General of Intelligence recommended disciplinary and criminal charges against Khumalo and national commissioner Fannie Masemola over five properties bought by Crime Intelligence for more than R120 million. A recommendation, not a charge and not a finding; Khumalo is presumed innocent.
View profile →The acting head of the service who welcomed his clearingLieutenant-General Puleng Dimpane
After the fraud charges against Khumalo and his co-accused were withdrawn on 21 August 2026, Dimpane said the following day, per EWN, that he 'must now refocus on strengthening intelligence-led operations and dismantling organised criminal networks'. A withdrawal before plea is not an acquittal and not a finding either way.
View profile →In the room & on the record
Counsel, the panel and sources
Evidence led by
- Advocate Adila Hassim SC
On the panel
- Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga (chairperson)
Sources
- EWN - Dumisani Khumalo concludes testimony before Madlanga Commission (6 November 2025) ↗
- IOL - Khumalo links Sibiya to criminal syndicates during Madlanga Commission testimony (4 November 2025) ↗
- TimesLIVE - Crime intelligence boss Khumalo returns to the Madlanga commission of inquiry (4 November 2025) ↗