Witness

Advocate Drushantha Ramsamy

State advocate, Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) · Pretoria

Testified · part-heard

The state advocate inside the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption who prosecuted alongside the directorate's leadership on the Crime Intelligence docket - and who, across three days at the Madlanga Commission (Days 151, 154 and 156), has become the central witness against her own former head. Her evidence is the first time a serving IDAC prosecutor has given a first-hand account of how the case against Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo and Brigadier Dineo Mokwele was assembled. On Day 151 she played the commission a recording she had made of a telephone call with Advocate Andrea Johnson on 26 July 2026, in which Johnson is heard calling the inquiry 'a shitshow' and, asked what Ramsamy should do if summoned, saying 'if they call you, leave the country'. She testified that Johnson personally drove an investigation known internally as 'Project Diversion' aimed at national commissioner General Fannie Masemola and Khumalo, describing it as an 'orchestrated attack' on the two men; that Johnson handed her a suspect list on a pinkish-purple sheet on 5 December 2024 saying 'these are the suspects, Chief and I discussed who is to be included'; and that staff nicknamed Johnson 'Flip-Flop, Knee-Jerk' because instructions changed through the day after she consulted chief investigator Dylan Perumal. On Day 154 she went further, describing an alleged plan to keep Masemola ignorant of IDAC investigations so that he would mislead Parliament's portfolio committee on police and could then be charged with perjury - 'we should let him lie at the portfolio committee' - and, asked whether that was a set-up, answered 'correct'. On Day 156 she placed suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu in the route by which a still-classified Inspector-General of Intelligence report reached IDAC after the watchdog had refused to release it. She was also one of the two IDAC officials whose recorded voice notes, heard on Day 148, disputed the authenticity of the 'A1' statement Perumal filed. The commission indicated on 1 August 2026 that it was prepared to arrange protection for her. She is a witness giving evidence, not an accused; her account is untested, and everyone she names is presumed innocent.

Drushantha RamsamyAdvocate RamsamyIDACIDAC prosecutorstate advocateMadlanga 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.

Awaiting appearanceNo portrait on the public record yet

Their role

What the record says

Played a recording of Johnson allegedly telling her to leave the country

The centrepiece of her evidence was a cellphone recording she made of a call with Advocate Andrea Johnson on 26 July 2026 - the day Johnson wrote to the National Director of Public Prosecutions asking to be released from her post. Played in open session, it captured Johnson saying of the commission 'it's going to be a shitshow', dismissing a legal point with 'this is Basic Law 101, I'm surprised you don't know it', and - on what Ramsamy should do if the commission called her - 'if they call you, leave the country'. The evidence leaders put it that Johnson had sought to devise a way for Ramsamy not to testify. Johnson did not know she was being recorded and has not yet answered the allegation from the stand; it is untested and she is presumed innocent.

Alleged 'Project Diversion' targeted Masemola and Khumalo

Ramsamy testified that Johnson personally spearheaded an investigation known inside the directorate as 'Project Diversion', aimed at national commissioner General Fannie Masemola and Crime Intelligence head Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo, and she characterised it as an 'orchestrated attack' on the two police leaders. Masemola was charged on 21 April 2026 with Public Finance Management Act offences over the alleged irregular award of the R360-million Medicare24 contract; the Khumalo case was provisionally withdrawn by the NPA on 27 July 2026. The allegation is untested and everyone named is presumed innocent.

The suspect list on a pinkish-purple sheet

She told the commission that on 5 December 2024 Johnson handed her a list of suspects written on a pinkish-purple sheet of paper with the words 'these are the suspects, Chief and I discussed who is to be included' - 'Chief' being IDAC chief investigator Dylan Perumal. If accepted, the sequence would reverse the order a lawful investigation follows, with the suspects settled before the evidence. It has not been accepted; it is her account and those named are entitled to answer it.

A section 27 document that did not match the affidavit she was given

Ramsamy said she received a section 27 referral affidavit from Johnson on 5 December 2024 - the instrument that founds an IDAC investigation - and that a version of that document put before the commission during Johnson's own evidence differed from the one she had been given. She described her reaction as 'my heart dropped to my stomach'. It sits alongside the disputed 'A1' statement heard on Day 148, in which she was one of the two officials whose recorded voice notes challenged the paperwork. Untested.

'Flip-Flop, Knee-Jerk' and how instructions changed

She testified that IDAC staff nicknamed Johnson 'Flip-Flop, Knee-Jerk' because her instructions changed repeatedly through a single day, and that they changed after Johnson consulted chief investigator Dylan Perumal. She said Johnson constantly deviated from the directorate's standard operating procedures - the procedures Johnson had told the commission did not exist - and that it was easy inside IDAC to manipulate statements and to decide who the suspects were, how investigations should proceed, who the witnesses would be and what they would say. Untested; those named are presumed innocent.

'Let him lie at the portfolio committee' - an alleged perjury trap for Masemola

On Day 154 (5 August 2026) Ramsamy testified that Johnson instructed the team not to inform national commissioner General Fannie Masemola about several IDAC investigations before he appeared at Parliament's portfolio committee on police: 'Adv Johnson said that the national commissioner should not be informed of the investigation. She said the national commissioner would appear at the portfolio committee on policing soon and we should let him lie at the portfolio committee.' The purpose she described was that Masemola, kept ignorant, would give the committee a false account and could then be charged with perjury. Asked by Commissioner Advocate Sandile Khumalo SC whether this was a set-up for Masemola, she answered 'Correct'. The matters allegedly withheld included the disputed appointment of General Nosipho Madondo, the General Philani Lushaba matter, hotel and related spending, the Political Killings Task Team investigation and the protection detail of DA MP Ian Cameron - who has publicly denied any role in a plot against Masemola. Untested; Johnson has not answered it from the stand and is presumed innocent.

'It is a straight lie' - the 2024 section 28(13) application

Johnson told this commission she had not given Ramsamy the information or the names that went into a section 28(13) application in 2024. On Day 154 Ramsamy said she had, and when it was put to her that Johnson's version appeared untrue she agreed while naming the cost of doing so: 'at the risk of being very badly victimised when I get back to the office, it's a lie. It is a straight lie.' She said Johnson had 'thrown her under the bus' and that IDAC's wellness department had received numerous staff complaints about how Johnson treated them. She broke down while recounting a 2025 encounter with Johnson and the commission adjourned briefly. Untested.

Placed Mchunu in the route of a classified IGI report

On Day 156 (11 August 2026) Ramsamy testified that suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu bypassed the prescribed procedure to get an Inspector-General of Intelligence report on Crime Intelligence officers into IDAC's hands. The IGI had told IDAC in January 2025 that material from live investigations could not be shared; by September 2025, she said, chief investigator Dylan Perumal told her Mchunu had arranged for someone to fly to him in the Eastern Cape with a hard copy. The report was still classified when it reached Perumal and had not been declassified before he forwarded it to her by WhatsApp; he had called it 'golden' because it was believed it would help the case against Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo. She said the Intelligence Services Oversight Act prescribes specific channels that were not followed, and described a January 2025 meeting at which Perumal became agitated and used 'cowboy tactics', after which IGI advocate Jayashree Govender declined to cooperate. Untested; Mchunu and Perumal have not answered it before this commission and both are presumed innocent.

Said Mchunu's office also arranged a flight for a forklift-probe witness

On Day 154 Ramsamy told the commission that in January 2025 Perumal said Police Minister Senzo Mchunu had arranged for a witness in the Crime Intelligence forklift investigation to be transported from Pretoria to the Eastern Cape to consult with him. Asked by Justice Madlanga what 'flown' meant, she said: 'I had assumed that the minister's office had paid for it, because I had later met this witness and he would not have been of financial means to have flown himself,' adding that 'all arrangements were made by Minister Mchunu for this witness to consult with Mr Perumal in the Eastern Cape.' It is the first of two occasions on which her evidence places the minister's office inside IDAC's logistics. Untested.

On the stand

Appears across 3 hearing days

  1. Day 15611 Aug 2026
  2. Day 1545 Aug 2026
  3. Day 15130 Jul 2026

Connections

How this witness links to the record

Her former head; she testified against her

Advocate Andrea Johnson

Head, Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC)

Ramsamy worked under Johnson at IDAC on the Crime Intelligence docket. Across Days 151, 154 and 156 she played a recording of a 26 July call in which Johnson allegedly advised her to leave the country rather than testify, gave evidence that Johnson drove 'Project Diversion', and described an alleged instruction to 'let him lie' so that General Fannie Masemola could be charged with perjury. Johnson has not yet answered; untested, both presumed innocent.

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Prosecuted the case against him, then testified about how it was built

Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo

Head, SAPS Crime Intelligence

Ramsamy was a state advocate on the docket that charged the Crime Intelligence head. Her Day 151 evidence was that the suspects were settled by the directorate's leadership before the case was made. The NPA provisionally withdrew the charges on 27 July 2026. Untested; all presumed innocent.

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IDAC colleague on the same docket

Colonel Brian Padayachee

Senior investigator, Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC)

Both worked the Crime Intelligence matter - Padayachee as lead investigator who defended it across Days 139-141, Ramsamy as the state advocate who has since given evidence about how it was assembled. Padayachee was suspended on 30 July 2026 pending a disciplinary process; a suspension is not a finding and he is presumed innocent.

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The other official on the Day 148 recordings

Mantsha Robert Raphesu

Investigator, Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC)

Ramsamy and Raphesu are the two IDAC officials whose recorded voice notes, played on Day 148, disputed the authenticity of the 'A1' statement. Both later testified in person - she on Day 151, he on Day 152. Raphesu told the commission she had said she was under instruction not to give the investigating team documents. Untested; both presumed innocent.

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IDAC colleague who also says the case was wrong

Advocate Peter Serunye

Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC)

Serunye, a Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, took over the Crime Intelligence prosecution and testified on Day 153 that it was premature and that the corruption charge did not hold. He and Ramsamy give parallel accounts from the prosecuting side of the same docket. Untested.

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Named him in IDAC's logistics twice

Senzo Mchunu

Minister of Police (on special leave)

On Day 154 Ramsamy said Mchunu's office arranged a flight for a forklift-probe witness; on Day 156 she said he arranged for a still-classified IGI report to be carried to IDAC's chief investigator in the Eastern Cape. Mchunu has not answered either allegation before this commission; untested, presumed innocent.

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The officer she says was to be trapped into perjury

Lieutenant-General Fannie Masemola

National Commissioner of the South African Police Service (on precautionary suspension)

On Day 154 Ramsamy testified that Johnson instructed the team to keep Masemola ignorant of IDAC investigations so he would mislead Parliament's portfolio committee and could be charged with perjury, and confirmed it amounted to a set-up. Untested; all named presumed innocent.

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Disputed the 'A1' statement attributed to him; he now says he will charge her

Fadiel Adams

Member of Parliament and leader, National Coloured Congress

Ramsamy is one of the two IDAC officials whose recorded voice notes, played on Day 148, disputed the authenticity of the supplementary 'A1' statement attributed to Adams and filed by chief investigator Dylan Perumal. Adams publicly called on her to release the almost two-hour recording she holds of their 6 January 2025 consultation; on Day 164 the commission played parts of it over his objection, and he told the commission he will lay criminal charges against her and report her to the Legal Practice Council. Untested; both presumed innocent.

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Testified that his classified report reached IDAC anyway

Imtiaz Fazel

Inspector-General of Intelligence (suspended)

On Day 156 Ramsamy testified that Mchunu arranged for a still-classified Inspector-General of Intelligence report to be carried to IDAC's chief investigator in the Eastern Cape, after Fazel's office had refused to release it. Untested; all named are presumed innocent.

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The accused on the docket she prosecuted

Brigadier Dineo Mokwele

Head of Technical Support Services, SAPS Crime Intelligence

Ramsamy was a state advocate on the Crime Intelligence docket that charged Mokwele over her appointment. Her Day 151 evidence was that the directorate's leadership settled the suspects before the evidence was made. All charges against Mokwele were withdrawn unconditionally on 21 August 2026. Untested; she is presumed innocent.

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My heart dropped to my stomach.
Advocate Drushantha Ramsamy to the Madlanga Commission (Day 151, 30 July 2026), describing her reaction when a section 27 document put before the commission differed from the affidavit she says Advocate Andrea Johnson gave her on 5 December 2024. Untested; all named are presumed innocent.