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Hearing record

Day 97

Evidence led by Advocate Matthew Chaskalson SC

Day 97, 24 April 2026. Suspended Tshwane metro police deputy chief Umashi Dhlamini took the stand, grilled over allegations of tender rigging and political interference in a roughly R2.9 billion security contract, and denied colluding with Sergeant Fannie Nkosi and CFO Gareth Mnisi or leaking a confidential bid document.

Official transcript (PDF) ↗All hearing days
Still from Day 97 of the Madlanga Commission

The day in brief

What you need to know

  • Suspended TMPD deputy chief Umashi Dhlamini testified in his own defence against allegations of tender rigging and political interference tied to a security contract valued in evidence at about R2.9 billion.
  • Dhlamini denied colluding with Sergeant Fannie Nkosi and suspended City of Tshwane CFO Gareth Mnisi to influence the security-services procurement.
  • WhatsApp evidence before the commission showed Dhlamini facilitating discussions and passing documents between Nkosi and Mnisi as security contracts were pursued, which he sought to explain as legitimate.
  • A central dispute concerned a Bid Evaluation Committee draft document that Dhlamini shared with Nkosi; he argued it was already public on the city's website, while evidence leader Advocate Matthew Chaskalson SC said what was sent was a draft closed-out report, not the online bid register.
  • The commission was shown video of Nkosi walking with Mnisi, on which Dhlamini had commented that the sergeant had 'captured' the Tshwane CFO - a remark he was asked to account for.
  • Commissioner Sandile Khumalo SC told Dhlamini his answers did not match the messages, framing a gap between his account and the documentary record.
  • All the allegations remain untested and Dhlamini denies wrongdoing; his cross-examination continued into later sittings at the end of April.

Full coverage

The day, in depth

Denials on collusion and leaks

Dhlamini rejected allegations that he colluded with Sergeant Fannie Nkosi and CFO Gareth Mnisi over the security tender. The Star reported that he also denied leaking a confidential document tied to the roughly R2.9 billion contract. He cast his conduct throughout as proper and within his role.

The BEC document dispute

A key contest concerned a Bid Evaluation Committee draft that Dhlamini sent to Nkosi. Dhlamini said the material was already public on the city's website, but evidence leader Advocate Matthew Chaskalson SC countered that what was shared was a draft closed-out report being prepared for the committee, not the publicly accessible bid register. The distinction went to whether confidential information had changed hands.

'Miles apart' from the record

The Mail & Guardian reported that video shown to the commission depicted Nkosi walking with Mnisi, prompting Dhlamini's earlier remark that the sergeant had "captured" the CFO. Testing his explanations against the messages, Commissioner Sandile Khumalo SC told him: "What you're telling and what the WhatsApps say are miles apart". Dhlamini maintained his account was accurate.

Our analysis

The bottom line

Day 97 crystallises the TMPD tender inquiry into a single, testable question: did confidential procurement information move improperly, and did Dhlamini help move it. The BEC-document dispute is the cleanest version of that question, because it turns not on motive but on a verifiable fact - whether the draft sent to Nkosi was the public bid register, as Dhlamini says, or an internal closed-out report, as the evidence leader contends. That is the kind of dispute a documentary record can actually resolve.

The commissioner's blunt observation that Dhlamini's account and the WhatsApp messages are 'miles apart' is a credibility signal, not a verdict. Inconsistency between testimony and contemporaneous messages weakens a witness, but people do misremember and messages can be read more than one way, so the gap invites further testing rather than a conclusion. Dhlamini's own prior 'captured' remark cuts against him rhetorically, yet it too is an allegation he is entitled to explain.

Taken with Days 94 to 96, this sitting shows the commission trying to close a loop between three officials - CFO, deputy chief and operational major - around one procurement. If the documentary chain holds, it will describe coordinated influence; if the innocent explanations survive scrutiny, it will describe careless but lawful contact. On the evidence to Day 97 that loop is not yet closed, and every person named remains presumed innocent.

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.

In the room & on the record

Counsel, the panel and sources

Evidence led by

  • Advocate Matthew Chaskalson SC

On the panel

  • Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga (chairperson)
  • Advocate Sesi Baloyi SC
  • Advocate Sandile Khumalo SC

Sources

← Earlier in timeDay 9623 April 2026More recent →Day 9828 April 2026