Complainant in the 2018 assault case · has not testified here
Brigadier Leonora Phetlhe is the complainant whose 2018 criminal case now anchors a prosecution of two of the most senior figures in this inquiry's Crime Intelligence strand. She was a brigadier serving under Major-General Feroz Khan, then deputy head of SAPS Crime Intelligence, and per News24 and the Daily Maverick she reported that he assaulted her at Crime Intelligence headquarters on 26 June 2018, was injured, and opened a case at Silverton police station; the commission heard the complaint described as an assault with a pen. She has not given evidence before the Madlanga Commission. Her complaint reached it through other people: on Day 137, on 10 July 2026, retired Hawks Colonel Kobus Roelofse testified that the contents of her docket - her statement, a J88 injury report and an audio recording of the confrontation - were emailed on 4 July 2018 to a Crime Intelligence officer who printed them and handed them to Khan, before Khan gave his warning statement on 5 July 2018, and that this allowed him to tailor his account. A protected Crime Intelligence officer, Witness O, later told the commission she printed the attachments and handed them over, and that she was asked to delete the email. The whistleblower report that followed, filed after Advocate Andrea Johnson was appointed head of the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption in 2022, is what put the episode on this commission's record. On 30 October 2026 Khan and Johnson were arrested and charged over that docket and each released on R10,000 bail. Nothing on this page is an allegation against Brigadier Phetlhe. The allegations she reported have not been tested at a trial, Khan and Johnson have not pleaded, no court has convicted either of them, and both are presumed innocent.
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
The 2018 complaint
Per News24 and the Daily Maverick, Phetlhe reported that Major-General Feroz Khan, her commanding officer at SAPS Crime Intelligence, assaulted her at headquarters on 26 June 2018. She was injured and opened a case at Silverton police station. The commission heard the complaint described as an assault with a pen. The charge Khan now faces arising from it is assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. It has not been tested at a trial, he has not pleaded, and he is presumed innocent.
How her docket reached the commission's record
Phetlhe has not testified before this commission. Her case came before it through retired Hawks Colonel Kobus Roelofse on Day 137, on 10 July 2026, and through a protected Crime Intelligence officer known as Witness O. Roelofse's evidence was that the docket's contents - twelve images and an audio file, comprising her statement, a J88 injury report and a recording of the confrontation - were emailed on 4 July 2018 to a Crime Intelligence officer who printed them and handed them to Khan before he gave his warning statement on 5 July 2018. His words to the commission were that 'Receipt of such sensitive information would enable the suspect to manufacture and tailor his version'. Witness O testified that the email came from a Gmail address bearing Advocate Andrea Johnson's name under a subject line naming the Phetlhe complaint, that she printed the attachments and handed them to Khan, and that she was asked to delete the email. Untested; Johnson and Khan are presumed innocent.
Her case becomes a prosecution of two senior officials (30 October 2026)
On Friday 30 October 2026, per News24, the Daily Maverick, TimesLIVE, Eyewitness News, eNCA, SABC News, IOL and The Citizen, Khan and Johnson were arrested by the police task team working on this commission's referrals and appeared in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court, each released on R10,000 bail the state did not oppose. The charges reported across the matter are defeating the ends of justice, assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and contravening the National Prosecuting Authority Act, with Johnson charged as an accessory after the fact to the assault per NPA spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago. Per eNCA, TimesLIVE, SABC News and Eyewitness News the matter was postponed to 2 February 2027 for further investigation; the Daily Maverick puts that date at 3 February 2027. Eight years after she laid the complaint, it is on a court roll. Nothing is decided: neither accused has pleaded, no court has convicted either of them, and both are presumed innocent.