Witness archive
Everyone before the commission
Profiles are added as witnesses appear and as the public record grows. This page lists people who have given evidence, ordered by most recent appearance. People who are named or implicated but have not yet testified are listed separately below.
Col Brian Padayachee
Senior investigator, Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC)
The senior Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) investigator who led the directorate's fraud and corruption case against suspended SAPS Crime Intelligence head Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo and others over the allegedly irregular appointment of Brigadier Dineo Mokwele. He gave evidence at the Madlanga Commission across three days (14, 15 and 16 July 2026, Days 139-141), defending the investigation as backed by strong evidence and denying that IDAC was being weaponised in police infighting - but he faced sustained scepticism from the panel over whether the directorate had any lawful basis for the case. He is an investigator giving evidence, not an accused before the commission.
Vusi Shongwe
MK Party Member of Parliament
An MK Party Member of Parliament who served on Parliament's ad hoc committee on policing and testified before the Madlanga Commission on 30 June 2026 (Day 129). Shongwe told the commission that as he pressed for suspended SAPS Crime Intelligence boss Major-General Feroz Khan to account before Parliament, Khan and his alleged associates offered him a R10 million bribe - and that EFF leader Julius Malema was the most vocal in opposing Khan being called to appear. He says he refused the offer, reported it to former president Jacob Zuma, and brought it to both the parliamentary committee and the commission. Everything below is his evidence; the allegations are untested and all those he names - Khan and Malema among them - are presumed innocent.
Itumeleng 'Tumelo' Nku
Businessman; disputed Aeroton police informer
A businessman at the centre of the Aeroton strand of the Madlanga Commission, who finally testified on 25-26 June 2026 (Days 126-127). Evidence is that Nku tipped off Gauteng traffic chief Samuel Mashaba to the cocaine truck travelling from Durban a day before the 2021 Aeroton bust, and the commission used his WhatsApp exchanges with Mashaba to question their relationship. Nku maintains he was an unregistered, unpaid police informer and described himself as a consultant skilled in data analysis, 'ethical hacking' and cyber-penetration testing who has been paid by foreign intelligence agencies; a Hawks analyst, Witness J, countered that he was 'a drug trafficker, not an informer'. He returned on 29 June with a substantially changed account, and on 2 July 2026 (Day 131) the commission postponed the remainder of his testimony indefinitely, citing security concerns. All references to him are untested allegations and he is presumed innocent.
Julius Mkhwanazi
Suspended Deputy Chief, Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD)
The suspended Deputy Chief of the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD), who testified before the Madlanga Commission on procurement and a 'blue lights' emergency-equipment scandal linked to alleged cartel figure Vusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala. He is NOT Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, the KwaZulu-Natal provincial commissioner whose July 2025 allegations triggered this commission - they share a surname only. On 9 July 2026 he was granted R50,000 bail in the Germiston Magistrate's Court as one of the 'Ekurhuleni Four' officials charged with corruption over the alleged shielding of his blue-lights conduct and irregular salary adjustments. All matters below are allegations or contested testimony; he denies wrongdoing and is presumed innocent.
Witness K
Inspector, VIP Protection Unit, Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD)
An inspector in the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department's VIP Protection Unit who testified before the Madlanga Commission on 23 June 2026 as 'Witness K' - in camera, with her voice broadcast publicly but her name and image withheld for her safety. She told the commission she had been in a romantic relationship with suspended Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department deputy chief Julius Mkhwanazi and came forward to acknowledge her own role in, and give evidence about, an alleged theft of precious sugilite stones worth about R14.9 million from a Killarney flat on 11 February 2023, staged as a lawful police search-and-seizure. Everything below is contested evidence or an untested allegation; all those she names are presumed innocent.
Maj-Gen Lesetja Senona
Provincial Head, KZN Hawks (DPCI)
The provincial head of the KZN Hawks who personally directed that the seized cocaine be stored at the Port Shepstone office. Suspended and recalled, he returned to the Madlanga Commission on 19 June 2026 - now represented by Advocate Dali Mpofu SC - and went on the offensive, accusing the inquiry of unfair treatment, denying he ran a hostile unit, and disputing the evidence of junior officers. He says no security threats were ever reported to him, that he was removed from his office at gunpoint 'like a dog', and that he never intentionally misled anyone. On 26 June 2026, days after turning 60, he resigned from the Hawks with immediate effect; his lawyer confirmed it on 30 June. He remains under commission scrutiny over the 2021 Port Shepstone cocaine theft and his friendship with tender-fraud-accused Vusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala.
Brig. Campbell Nyuswa
Provincial Commander, Serious Organised Crime - KZN Hawks
The officer in the middle of the chain finally took the stand at the Madlanga Commission on 17 June 2026. The KZN Hawks Serious Organised Crime commander told the inquiry he chose the Port Shepstone office to store the ~541kg cocaine seizure because the landlord said its safes 'could only be accessed with the keys', conceded the building's known security weaknesses, and said provincial head Major General Senona approved the site and then took possession of both keys. He testified he suspected the strong-room heist was staged, said he knows who stole the drugs but would not name them, denied any involvement and apologised to the country.
Samuel Mashaba
Chief Provincial Inspector, Gauteng Traffic Police
The former head of the Gauteng Traffic Police (Chief Provincial Inspector), who gave three days of evidence before the Madlanga Commission on the 2021 Aeroton cocaine bust. He testified that a July 2021 tip-off led to the interception of more than 700kg of cocaine, and was one of four law-enforcement officers arrested at the scene by the Hawks for alleged drug dealing; he accuses Crime Intelligence's Maj-Gen Feroz Khan of disrupting the operation and orchestrating the arrests. Under cross-examination his account unravelled: the commission probed an undisclosed, allegedly funded relationship with businessman Tumelo Nku, messages touching on the late Deputy President David Mabuza and MEC Faith Mazibuko, and on his final day chairperson Madlanga told him directly, 'you are being untruthful'. These are untested allegations; Mashaba and everyone he names are presumed innocent.
Witness I
Hawks narcotics team leader (SANEB)
A career Hawks drug investigator who testified before the Madlanga Commission on 9-10 June 2026 under the pseudonym Witness I, by audio link, with his identity protected by a commission ruling for his safety. In 2021 he was team leader of the South African Narcotics Enforcement Bureau (SANEB) and a sub-section commander in the Tactical Operations Management Section (TOMS), and led the team behind the July 2021 Aeroton cocaine bust - about 715kg, an estimated R300 million. He testified that a senior Crime Intelligence officer hijacked the operation and that he was offered a promotion to change his statement. On day two his own credibility became the issue: he testified that 'Cat' Matlala had been a police informant, and disclosed that he had lived for about two years at a Matlala family property - an arrangement he says followed a 2023 attempt on his life - which evidence leaders probed as a possible conflict. All those he named are presumed innocent.
Zelda Maphosho
Assistant Director of Investigations, IPID
The IPID assistant director who ran the Independent Police Investigative Directorate's investigation into the police accused of trying to steal from the Aeroton cocaine bust. Under cross-examination she conceded IPID had never seen the forensic cellphone evidence, that it was refused the case docket, and that the arrests at the scene may have been premature.
Lt-Col Nkoana Joseph Sebola
Senior Hawks investigator
The Hawks investigator who took command of the chaotic July 2021 Aeroton crime scene and arrested two SAPS members he says were caught trying to steal from the R286 million cocaine seizure. He told the commission a senior officer phoned and asked him to resolve the bust 'amicably' on the spot - he refused - and has since linked the Aeroton operation, through intercepted WhatsApp messages and cellphone downloads, to the same cartel behind the stolen Durban-port consignment.
Lt-Col Kwazikwakhe Sibiya
Hawks officer, Durban Serious Organised Crime Unit
A Durban Hawks officer brought onto the June 2021 Isipingo cocaine bust by his commander, Colonel Gavin Jacob - the seizure that preceded the R200m Port Shepstone theft. He told the commission he followed orders and was away at a Paarl training camp when the safe was broken into; the panel openly questioned his account.
Col Gavin Jacob
Commander, Durban Serious Organised Crime Unit - KZN Hawks
A chemistry graduate and commander of the Durban serious organised crime unit who led the 2021 seizure that became the R200m theft. He denied any role and said a polygraph vindicated him, but the commission challenged a string of decisions - booking himself onto the operation while on leave, running the scene himself for the first time at that scale, and moving the exhibits off-site - as irregular and inconsistent with his own statement.
W/O Karl Sander
Hawks narcotics investigator
A narcotics investigator with nearly four decades of service whose testimony became one of the most-watched moments of the commission. He said junior officers were victimised over the R200m theft, was polygraphed - including over his own stolen coffee machine - and was exonerated on the stand. The public rallied behind him, raising over half a million rand.
Oupa 'Brown' Mogotsi
North West businessman
A North West businessman whom commission witnesses described as an alleged middleman or 'conduit' linking former police minister Senzo Mchunu and alleged organised-crime figure Vusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala. He testified in November 2025 and returned on 15 May 2026, where he initially invoked his right to remain silent, failed in a bid to have evidence leader Matthew Chaskalson recused, and was arrested shortly afterward. All claims against him are untested allegations; he is presumed innocent.
W/O Marumo Magane
Analyst, SAPS
An analyst with no specialised drug-investigation experience who handled the 2021 Aeroton cocaine seizure. He admitted loading cocaine-filled bags onto an open police vehicle without gloves, failing to preserve the scene.
Lt-Col Jakobus Prinsloo
Lieutenant Colonel (retired), KZN Hawks
A retired Hawks officer who told the commission the theft might have been an inside job. He detailed the Port Shepstone facility's security failures and underwent a six-hour polygraph test, which he passed.
Major-Gen Richard Shibiri
Head of the SAPS Organised Crime component (dismissed)
The head of the SAPS Organised Crime component until his dismissal. He testified before the Madlanga Commission in March 2026 about his relationship with organised-crime accused Vusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala, including a roughly R70,000 payment he says was a repaid loan for his son's car repairs. SAPS dismissed him in mid-2026 after an internal disciplinary process found he had brought the service into disrepute by associating with a known criminal; he denies wrongdoing and is reportedly challenging the dismissal. He is a distinct person from Lt-Gen Shadrack Sibiya and Brig Kwazikwakhe Sibiya - the surnames Shibiri and Sibiya are different.
Suleiman Carrim
Businessman
A controversial businessman whom the Madlanga Commission's evidence leaders described, alongside Hangwani Maumela, as one of the apparent funders of attempted-murder-accused tenderpreneur Vusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala. Carrim is implicated in the irregular R360 million SAPS health-services tender scored by Matlala's company Medicare24. He testified on 9-10 March 2026 that 'Mogotsi and Matlala played me' out of millions, then repeatedly postponed continuing his evidence citing ill health - most recently withdrawing again in late June 2026. Everything below is contested evidence or an untested allegation; he is presumed innocent.
Lieutenant-Gen Shadrack Sibiya
Suspended Deputy National Commissioner of Police (Crime Detection)
South Africa's Deputy National Commissioner of Police for Crime Detection, suspended in July 2025 after KZN commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi alleged he interfered in sensitive investigations. Before the Madlanga Commission he was questioned over the disbandment of the KZN Political Killings Task Team, the removal of 121 dockets, and alleged links to figures connected to the so-called 'Big Five' cartel. He denies any corruption, though he conceded certain procedural deviations; none of the allegations has been tested to a finding. He is a different person from Brigadier Kwazikwakhe Sibiya.
Senzo Mchunu
Minister of Police (on special leave)
South Africa's Minister of Police, placed on special leave by President Ramaphosa on 13 July 2025 pending the inquiry. He testified at the Madlanga Commission in response to allegations - principally raised by KZN commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi - that he improperly disbanded the Political Killings Task Team to shield politically connected individuals. Mchunu denies all wrongdoing and maintains his conduct was lawful; no findings have been made against him and he is presumed innocent.
Lieutenant-Gen Fannie Masemola
National Commissioner of the South African Police Service
South Africa's National Commissioner of the South African Police Service, appointed in 2022. He was among the first witnesses at the Madlanga Commission, and his evidence largely corroborated KZN commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi's account: the chain of command within SAPS, the limits of ministerial authority, and the disbandment of the KwaZulu-Natal Political Killings Task Team. Separately, in the wave of criminal referrals that followed Mkhwanazi's July 2025 allegations, Masemola was charged by summons - not arrested - with four counts of contravening the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) over a 2024 SAPS health-services tender awarded to Vusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala's Medicare24. He faces only those PFMA counts (not the fraud, corruption or money-laundering charges laid against the tender's other accused); the charges are untested and he is presumed innocent.
Lieutenant-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi
KwaZulu-Natal provincial police commissioner
The KwaZulu-Natal provincial commissioner of the South African Police Service whose 6 July 2025 press briefing triggered the Madlanga Commission. He alleged that a criminal syndicate linked to a drug cartel had infiltrated the police, prosecution and intelligence services, and that the political killings task team had been disbanded to shield those interests. He appeared as the commission's first witness in its opening days (Days 1-3, 17-19 September 2025), giving evidence as the complainant - not an accused - and has not returned to the witness stand since. His allegations remain the spine of the inquiry: in July 2026, as IDAC investigator Brian Padayachee testified about the directorate's case against Crime Intelligence head Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo, Padayachee said Mkhwanazi had known in advance of, and had no issue with, Khumalo's arrest - a characterisation set against Mkhwanazi's own public criticism of that probe.
Not yet testified
Named or implicated in evidence
These people have been named in testimony, court papers or a summons but have not appeared before the commission. Everything about them remains an untested allegation and they are presumed innocent.
Advocate Andrea Johnson
Head, Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC)
The head of the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC), the National Prosecuting Authority's specialist anti-corruption body. She was scheduled to testify before the Madlanga Commission on 13 July 2026 (Day 138) to answer whistleblower evidence that, as an NPA prosecutor in 2018, she interfered in an assault case against suspended Crime Intelligence deputy head Major-General Feroz Khan by causing the police docket to be leaked to him before he was charged. Her testimony was postponed after her counsel said she had been rushed to hospital that morning; chairperson Mbuyiseli Madlanga dismissed her medical certificate as 'useless', and President Cyril Ramaphosa, who appointed her, said her conduct would be scrutinised. She has not yet answered the allegations before the commission and is presumed innocent.
Major-Gen Feroz Khan
Deputy head, SAPS Crime Intelligence (suspended)
The suspended deputy head of SAPS Crime Intelligence, summoned by the Madlanga Commission to testify from 1 July 2026 over what the commission calls 'very serious allegations' against him. Witnesses have alleged he interfered in the 2021 Aeroton cocaine seizure and was improperly cleared in an internal disciplinary process; he denies wrongdoing. On the night of 28 June 2026, days before his scheduled appearance, he was shot and wounded in an apparent assassination attempt in Houghton, Johannesburg, and could not appear when his testimony was due to begin on 1 July 2026 (Day 130); the commission also rejected his legal team's bid to have parts of his evidence heard in camera. With Khan still hospitalised, the commission began leading evidence against him in his absence from 3 July 2026 (Days 132-133): evidence leader Advocate Adila Hassim SC tabled WhatsApp chats from his seized phone that she says show him facilitating government tenders for tobacco businessman Mohamed 'Mo' Sayed, flagged financial disclosures reflecting a 30-car fleet, and asked investigators to probe his possible link to a 2021 burglary at a journalist's home. On 7 July 2026 (Day 134) the commission detailed alleged unexplained wealth - a property portfolio estimated at about R39 million and some 30 vehicles bought in a single year - and led WhatsApp messages said to show Khan and Mohamed 'Mo' Sayed plotting to trap the then Inspector-General of Intelligence into a false statement so he could be removed; the public portion of the evidence against him then concluded, with a further portion to be heard in camera. He has not yet testified, and everything before the commission remains an allegation subject to the presumption of innocence.
Julius Malema
EFF leader; Member of Parliament
The leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and a Member of Parliament. Malema is not a commission witness and has not been charged. His name arises from a supporting affidavit by commission investigator Tshepo Nyatlo, filed in the public court record (page 009124) over Maj-Gen Feroz Khan's seized devices, and from the commission's summons to Khan, which asks him to explain his relationship with Malema. On 7 July 2026 (Day 134), after WhatsApp messages from Khan's seized phone were led alleging that Khan and businessman Mohamed 'Mo' Sayed plotted to trap the then Inspector-General of Intelligence into a false statement, Malema filed a responding affidavit - read into the commission record - denying that he conspired to orchestrate the removal of Dr Setlhomamaru Dintwe and saying he could not verify the authenticity of the messages. Malema has publicly described Khan as a longtime acquaintance from their ANC days and denied any wrongdoing. These are untested allegations in court papers; no findings have been made and Malema is presumed innocent.
Vusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala
Businessman; alleged 'Big Five' cartel figure
The businessman at the centre of the Madlanga Commission - named in Crime Intelligence testimony as a leading figure in the alleged 'Big Five' cartel and tied to the irregular R360 million SAPS Medicare24 health-services tender (about R228 million paid) won by his company. On 25 June 2026 Matlala pleaded guilty in the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court to fraud, corruption and money-laundering over that tender and agreed to become a section 204 state witness against his former co-accused, most of them senior police officers. But on 1 July the court rejected the agreed eight-year effective sentence as too lenient, and on 13 July 2026 Matlala withdrew from the plea-and-sentence agreement rather than accept the 12-year term Magistrate Ignatius du Preez proposed; the court declared the agreement null and void, the guilty plea fell away, and the case - against Matlala and his companies Medicare24 Tshwane District and Luxo Africa Brand Investments - was set down for trial on 11 September 2026. The NPA said his plea statement cannot be used in new prosecutions. He separately faces an attempted-murder trial. With the plea withdrawn, all the charges against him are once again to be tested at trial and he is presumed innocent. He has not testified before the commission: on 15 July 2026 it postponed his appearance to 1 September 2026 and ordered him to file his statement by 29 July, after his counsel argued his rights as a potential accused had to take precedence over the commission's timetable.
Mohammed Sayed
Businessman; alleged co-director, Conalinks
A Johannesburg businessman alleged by the Madlanga Commission to be at the centre of a network linking SAPS Crime Intelligence to illegal tobacco trading, irregular government procurement, and political interference. He is not a commission witness and has not testified; the references to him originate from a supporting affidavit filed by commission investigator Tshepo Nyatlo (page 009124 of the court record) in the proceedings over Maj-Gen Feroz Khan's seized devices. On 3-6 July 2026 (Days 132-133) the commission led the underlying WhatsApp chats in Khan's absence: evidence leader Advocate Adila Hassim SC put it that Khan acted as a 'willing facilitator' of a 2021 SAPS Covid-19 PPE tender and a police IT contract on Sayed's behalf. These are untested allegations; Sayed is presumed innocent.
Michael van Wyk
Chief Executive, Medicare24 Holdings
The chief executive of Medicare24 Holdings, the private emergency-medical company awarded a controversial multi-hundred-million-rand South African Police Service health-services tender. Van Wyk was subpoenaed to appear before the Madlanga Commission on 22 June 2026 over his dealings with attempted-murder-accused tenderpreneur Vusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala and with suspended EMPD deputy chief Julius Mkhwanazi, but did not testify: his legal team obtained a postponement after he suffered panic attacks and was admitted for psychiatric care. Chief evidence leader Advocate Matthew Chaskalson SC led WhatsApp chats, voice notes and videos in his absence. He may file a supplementary affidavit by 6 July 2026. Everything below is an allegation or contested evidence; he denies wrongdoing and is presumed innocent.
Capt. Felani Zungu
SAPS captain, Tactical Operations Management Section (TOMS)
A SAPS captain attached to the Tactical Operations Management Section (TOMS) who has emerged as a hinge figure in the Aeroton testimony. According to Witness I, Matlala's informant tip-offs to TOMS came through Zungu, and it was Zungu who arranged the safe house - later found to be a Matlala family property - where Witness I sheltered after a 2023 attempt on his life. Crime Intelligence head Lt-Gen Dumisani Khumalo previously flagged Zungu as a possible 'double agent' after his contact details were found in Vusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala's phone records. He is not a commission witness in his own right; these are untested allegations and he is presumed innocent.