Witness

Oupa 'Brown' Mogotsi

North West businessman · North West

Testified · in custody · case to 23 October

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. He has been in custody since that arrest. The criminal case against him is separate from this commission's business and concerns none of the allegations above: per SABC News and IOL he faces unlawful possession of a firearm, discharging a firearm in a built-up area, perjury and defeating the ends of justice, arising from an alleged staged assassination attempt on himself in Vosloorus on the East Rand, and he has now been refused bail four times. Per the Mail and Guardian, SABC News and IOL he appeared briefly in the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court before magistrate Annalise Tlhapi on Wednesday 7 October 2026 and the matter was postponed to Friday 23 October 2026 so his defence can bring an application compelling the state to comply with its request for further particulars, his counsel telling the court 'we have received what is purported to be a response. I can advise the court to submit that we are dissatisfied with the response from the state'. The material sought is cellphone and employment records for a state witness listed as A5, proof of residence for witnesses A5 and A6, unredacted witness statements, and images taken from footage of the alleged shooting. All claims against him, at this commission and in that court, are untested allegations; no court has convicted him and he is presumed innocent.

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Brown Mogotsidr mogotsimogotsiOupa MogotsiMadlanga Commission

This profile summarises testimony and evidence given on the public record before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry. It restates allegations as presented at the hearings and is not a finding of guilt, liability, or wrongdoing by any person.

Oupa 'Brown' Mogotsi · Testified · in custody · case to 23 October

Their role

What the record says

Testimony as an alleged informant

Mogotsi testified that he had worked as a police informant and crime-intelligence 'contact agent.' Evidence leader Matthew Chaskalson disputed his account; the claims remain contested on the record, not findings.

Disputed crime-intelligence status

One Crime Intelligence affidavit reportedly stated there were no records that Mogotsi was ever an SAPS agent, while another indicated he was registered as an informant in 2001 and deregistered months later. The discrepancy is part of the evidence and has not been resolved.

Alleged conduit between Mchunu and Matlala

Witnesses and the evidence leader alleged Mogotsi acted as a conduit between former minister Senzo Mchunu and businessman Vusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala, with messages said to have been relayed between them. Mogotsi denied wrongdoing; none of this is a proven finding.

Recusal application against Chaskalson, dismissed

His application to remove chief evidence leader Matthew Chaskalson, alleging bias, was dismissed by Chairperson Madlanga on 15 May 2026. Chaskalson denied the allegations of bias. On 13 October 2026, five months after that ruling, the commission published the full application bundle on its document feed, so the record below now rests on the papers rather than on reporting of them.

What the application actually asked for, from the papers

The notice of motion, dated 29 April 2026 and brought by Radasi Sekgatja Inc, cites Mogotsi as applicant, Advocate Matthew Chaskalson SC as first respondent and the commission as second respondent, and asks for two things: 'That the Commission respectfully order the recusal of Adv. Matthew Chaskalson SC as Evidence Leader in these proceedings' and 'That an independent person be appointed as Evidence Leader in relation to the Applicant's evidence.' His founding affidavit puts the ground as 'actual bias and/or a reasonable apprehension of bias', relying on the Constitutional Court line in SARFU, De Lacy, S v Basson, Bernert and Mulaudzi, and accepts at paragraph 4.3 that Chaskalson 'is not the presiding officer'. None of the allegations in it was upheld.

The allegation he made against the evidence leader, and the answer to it

The founding affidavit alleges that after his attorneys withdrew in about January 2026 he dealt with Chaskalson directly around the testimony of businessman Suleiman Carrim on 9 and 10 March 2026, and that on a call on the night of 9 March Chaskalson said to him: 'Get me anything against Sulliman and I will help you.' It alleges he was left with 'the distinct impression that my protection from adverse findings by the Commission was being made conditional' on helping against Carrim. Chaskalson's answering affidavit, annexed to the bundle, denies it directly: 'I have never suggested to Mr Mogotsi that he should give false evidence to implicate Mr Carrim', and 'In over thirty years of practice, I have never suggested to any witness that s/he should give false evidence to a Commission, a Court, or any other tribunal.' He also says: 'I also deny that I ever offered to protect Mr Mogotsi from adverse findings by the Commission if he could implicate Mr Carrim. I would never offer any witness a quid pro quo for implicating another witness.' His account is that the offer to provide evidence against Carrim 'first came from Mr Mogotsi himself, unsolicited by me'. Both versions are on oath and the chairperson rejected the application.

The commission's legal team asked that he be referred to the police

The answering affidavit for the commission's legal team, deposed by Madimpe Mogashoa, calls the application 'legally misconceived, factually fraudulent' and makes a point about what an evidence leader is: 'An evidence leader is not the Commission. He does not decide admissibility, credibility, liability, culpability, reputation, or the content of the Commission's report. He assists the Commission. The Chairperson remains the decision-maker.' It alleges that the WhatsApp record Mogotsi annexed had been selectively altered, listing what it says was removed: three calls he made on the night of 9 March 2026 at 21h32, 21h33 and 21h36, three further calls during the lunch adjournment in Carrim's testimony on 10 March at 13h10, 13h18 and 13h45, three 'crying with laughter' emojis sent at 13h18 that day, and a message of 12 March at 11h29. It asks the chairperson for three things: that the application be dismissed, that Mogotsi make his phone available for forensic imaging if he persists, and that his conduct 'be referred to the South African Police Service for investigation of possible criminal offences, including perjury, forgery, wilful obstruction or hindrance of the Commission in contravention of section 5 of the Commissions Act, 1947, and contravention of Regulation 12(1) of the Regulations of this Commission.' The application was dismissed. Nothing on the public record says the referral was made, no such charge has been brought, and the allegation of tampering is an allegation by one party in a dismissed application, not a finding. He is presumed innocent of it.

Refusal to answer, then arrest

On returning to the stand he initially declined to answer questions, saying he would not incriminate himself, before agreeing to proceed. He was arrested on 15 May 2026 after his appearance, reportedly facing a charge of defeating the ends of justice. The charges are untested and he is presumed innocent.

On the stand

Appears across 4 hearing days

On the record

1 commission document names this witness

Application · 15 May 2026Brown Mogotsi Recusal Applications Bundle Final_Redacted

Connections

How this witness links to the record

Alleged to have told Matlala to keep the relationship going

Bheki Cele

Former Minister of Police · former National Commissioner of the SAPS

Matlala told the commission that then police minister Bheki Cele instructed him to maintain his dealings with Mogotsi in order to investigate corruption. Neither Mogotsi nor Cele has answered that account before this commission. Untested; all presumed innocent.

View profile →Named in his evidence

Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi

KwaZulu-Natal provincial police commissioner

Mkhwanazi described Mogotsi as a conduit who allegedly knew of the task team's disbandment before he did.

View profile →Alleged conduit to

Senzo Mchunu

Minister of Police (on special leave)

Witnesses alleged Mogotsi relayed messages between Mchunu and an alleged cartel figure; both deny wrongdoing.

View profile →Accused by him of deception

Suleiman Carrim

Businessman

Businessman Suleiman Carrim testified that Mogotsi and Matlala 'played' him into loaning millions towards the R360m SAPS Medicare24 tender. Mogotsi denies wrongdoing; untested allegations.

View profile →Alleged co-conduit

Vusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala

Businessman; alleged 'Big Five' cartel figure

Carrim testified that Mogotsi and Matlala together 'played' him into the tender deal; money allegedly flowed to Mogotsi from the Medicare24 chain. Mogotsi denies wrongdoing; untested.

View profile →The Soweto cases the commission asked whether he steered

Fadiel Adams

Member of Parliament and leader, National Coloured Congress

On Day 163 a commissioner put to Adams that 'almost every case that is opened in Soweto relating to our terms of reference somehow has Mr Mogotsi's fingerprints', and that the officer who admitted Adams to Orlando SAPS is the Crime Intelligence official described in evidence as Mogotsi's handler. Adams denied Mogotsi had any hand in it and said he spoke to him once by phone. Untested; both presumed innocent.

View profile →Alleged to have introduced him to Adams

Major-General Andre Lincoln

Former head, Western Cape Anti-Gang Unit and Presidential Investigation Task Unit (deceased); named in evidence as Fadiel Adams's source

Adams told the commission that the late Major-General Andre Lincoln phoned Mogotsi from his own house and introduced him as someone close to the police minister, and that the conversation was about Lincoln's unpaid pension. Adams says he now knows the description was untrue. Untested; Lincoln is dead and cannot answer it.

View profile →

Sources