Thursday 3 September 2026 — The Madlanga Commission is not sitting today. The Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Criminality, Political Interference and Corruption in the Criminal Justice System is in a seven working day recess from today until Wednesday 11 September 2026, with public hearings set to resume at 09:30 SAST on Monday 14 September 2026 at the Brigitte Mabandla Justice College in Pretoria.
This week’s headline development was Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga’s refusal on Tuesday of suspended Crime Intelligence deputy head Major-General Feroz Khan’s fresh postponement application, followed by Khan’s dismissal from the South African Police Service on Wednesday.
Last updated: 3 September 2026, 08:24 SAST.
What the Madlanga Commission is investigating
The Madlanga Commission was established to probe claims that senior police officials and politically connected business figures infiltrated law-enforcement structures, undermining investigations into political killings and organised crime.
Central to the inquiry are allegations made by KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, who accused senior figures – including suspended police minister Senzo Mchunu – of political interference and links to criminal networks.
The commission’s work has been divided into phases, with the current stage allowing individuals implicated during earlier hearings to respond to the allegations against them.
Today’s hearing (Day 169, Friday 28 August 2026)
The commission is not sitting today. Spokesperson Jeremy Michaels confirmed through SAnews on Tuesday 1 September that the recess is to allow two of the commissioners to honour prior commitments made when the inquiry was originally due to have completed its work by 31 August 2026.
That deadline was extended by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Day 136 (9 July 2026); the final report is now due on 16 November 2026. The commission’s senior functionaries and extended team will continue to work through the recess, preparing for the resumption on Monday 14 September 2026.
The last sitting before the break was Wednesday 2 September 2026 (Day 172).
How to watch the Madlanga Commission live
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A live stream of the Madlanga Commission hearing will be embedded below once today’s sitting gets underway.
Viewers will be able to follow proceedings in real time as witnesses and legal representatives address the commission.
This week at the commission
The commission sat for three days this week before entering recess.
On Monday 31 August (Day 170), retired Lieutenant-General Seswantsho Godfrey Lebeya, the former head of the National Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, returned to the stand to continue his part-heard evidence from Day 168.
Led by Advocate Lee Segeels-Ncube, Lebeya continued to answer the central allegation that on 6 December 2024 he caused Hawks members to interfere with the Political Killings Task Team and Special Task Force operation to arrest murder-accused businessman Katiso “KT” Molefe at his Sandhurst home.
He continued to deny knowing Molefe personally, maintained he had directed senior managers to verify a possible impersonation claim, and continued on the Paul O’Sullivan and Phala Phala thread opened on Day 168.
On Tuesday 1 September (Day 171), the diary shifted to a fresh Feroz Khan postponement application brought after his June collapse. Khan’s legal team pressed medical grounds and objected to any independent medical examination on the basis of what they called a “white coat effect”, warning that the presence of a third-party expert could trigger a cascade of his current condition.
Evidence leader Advocate Adila Hassim SC opposed on public interest grounds, arguing that the interest was not in Khan’s health as such but in accountability, and that “a senior public officer who is under a compulsory process of this commission for the second time to appear” could not be excused for what could become an indefinite period.
Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga ruled that Khan had failed to provide sufficient information to warrant a postponement, and instead issued a ruling modelled on the Day 150 order made in respect of North West businessman Suliman Carrim, directing Khan to submit to an independent medical examination rather than compelling him to appear in person.
Lebeya waited in the wings and resumed his part-heard evidence once the Khan matter was disposed of.
On Wednesday 2 September (Day 172), Lebeya continued for a further day on the KT Molefe interference allegation and related threads before the commission rose for the recess. Parallel to the sitting, SAPS confirmed that Khan had been dismissed from the service after failing to attend his disciplinary hearing.
Threads carried into the recess:
- Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala part-heard per Day 167, with his own underlying R228 million SAPS Medicare24 trial set down for 11 September 2026 in the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court inside the recess window;
- Advocate Drushantha Ramsamy part-heard on the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption strand; former IDAC head Advocate Andrea Johnson still under a signalled evidence-leader intention to be issued a Rule 3 notice to answer new Ramsamy and Serunye allegations;
- Tumelo Nku off indefinitely on security grounds per Day 131;
- Witness M continuing in closed session on the Aeroton drug bust per Day 135;
- Two outstanding chair rulings from earlier in the year remain unresolved: Advocate Dali Mpofu SC’s Day 122 “unfair treatment” objection on behalf of suspended KZN Hawks head Major-General Lesetja Senona, and forensic investigator Paul O’Sullivan’s Day 128 request that Limpopo IPID provincial head Humbulani Khuba be formally called.
