Madlanga Commission resumes hearings in 2026: What to expect today and how to watch live

Tuesday 14 July 2026 — The Madlanga Commission of Inquiry sits for Day 139 in Pretoria today, and the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (Idac) strand remains open. Yesterday’s headline witness, Idac head Advocate Andrea Johnson, did not appear: her legal team told the commission she had been rushed to hospital shortly before sitting, submitted a medical certificate booking her off from 13 to 15 July, and asked for her evidence to be postponed. Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga granted the postponement to a date to be determined, but called the certificate one of those “useless so-called medical certificates” that “give no information whatsoever”.

Commission spokesperson Jeremy Michaels has since told media the note will be closely scrutinised.

Today’s witness list had not been published on the commission’s Notices page at publish time. eNCA‘s 05:58 SAST preview says a new witness is expected on the Idac track and that alleged “Big Five” cartel figure Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala is now expected on Wednesday 15 July, not today.

Daily Maverick‘s Monday copy line was that Matlala “may” be called on Tuesday. The commission’s own daily notice will settle it at the start of sitting.

Two chair rulings remain outstanding on the record from earlier in the block: Advocate Dali Mpofu SC’s Day 122 “unfair treatment” objection on behalf of suspended KZN Hawks provincial 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. Neither has been ruled on publicly.

Parallel to the auditorium, suspended Crime Intelligence deputy head Major-General Feroz Khan and two co-accused return to the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crimes Court today on the illicit precious metals matter for which Khan was arrested in May.

Khan himself remains unconscious and sedated at Netcare Milpark ICU after the 28 June Houghton shooting and is not personally in court.

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.

This week at the commission

Monday 13 July (Day 138) was reshaped inside the first ten minutes. Advocate Apla Bodlani SC, appearing for Andrea Johnson, told the commission a call had come through shortly before the venue confirming that Johnson had been rushed to hospital and was unable to attend. He tabled a medical certificate booking her off from 13 to 15 July and asked for her evidence to be postponed. Justice Madlanga granted the postponement but sharply criticised the certificate itself, calling it “one of those useless so-called medical certificates” that “give no information whatsoever”.

Commission spokesperson Jeremy Michaels subsequently told media the note will be scrutinised. Johnson’s Idac colleagues did not step in; no substitute witness was called for the balance of the day and the sitting was adjourned. In parallel, Daily Maverick reported the postponement was set to draw presidential scrutiny, and Sunday Times ran Johnson as its “Mampara of the week”.

The chair also did not publicly address the Mpofu Day 122 objection or the O’Sullivan Day 128 Khuba request. Johnson joins a lengthening line of Madlanga witnesses whose scheduled appearances have collapsed on medical grounds, including Mike van Wyk (psychiatric admission, Day 123) and ANC-aligned businessman Suliman Carrim (repeated postponements from March onward).

Last week in brief

The week ended with the commission moving hard onto the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (Idac). That pivot came after four days in which the diary was reshaped almost every morning by a witness who could not appear, a witness whose identity had to be protected, and a witness whose testimony went behind closed doors on safety grounds.

Monday, 6 July 2026, opened with the commission continuing to lead evidence in absentia against suspended Crime Intelligence deputy head Major-General Feroz Khan, who remains unconscious and sedated at Netcare Milpark ICU after the 28 June Houghton shooting. On Tuesday, Advocate Matthew Chaskalson SC took over to lead the June 2021 WhatsApp exchange in which Khan and Sayed allegedly plotted to trap then Inspector-General of Intelligence Dr Setlhomamaru Dintwe into a false statement so that his removal could be demanded, with EFF leader Julius Malema referenced in the chat (“Juju sent me now”). Malema, who is not a commission witness, filed a responding affidavit denying he conspired to orchestrate Dintwe’s removal.

Wednesday, 8 July 2026, was reshaped by Witness M’s in-camera application. Evidence leader Advocate Teboho Mosikili moved the application, telling the auditorium it was unopposed by media houses and that safety and security concerns necessitated the closed-doors arrangement. Justice Madlanga granted the application, concealed Witness M’s face and identifying features, and prohibited any person granted access from publishing, broadcasting or displaying any visual material that may reveal his identity.

Thursday resumed with public hearings after the closed session. World Bank anti-corruption task-team leader Dr Albertus Schoeman took the stand and was led on a report he compiled for the commission on structural weaknesses in the SAPS financial-disclosure and lifestyle-audit systems: no SAPS officials faced lifestyle investigations across the 2021/22 to 2023/24 years; only five of 823 senior managers were audited in 2024/25 and all were cleared; and because disclosure forms exclude family members, assets can be hidden in relatives’ names. President Cyril Ramaphosa’s extension of the commission’s timeline was announced by the Presidency during the sitting, moving the evidence deadline from 31 July to 2 October and the final report deadline from 31 August to 16 November.

Friday opened the Idac strand. Justice Madlanga granted partial in-camera treatment to Witness N (SAPS detective, Political Killings Task Team) and Witness O (Crime Intelligence officer) on safety grounds. Witness O then testified to the 4 July 2018 “Phetlhe complaint” email chain set out in Block 3 above.

Retired Hawks Colonel Kobus Roelofse and Captain Mark McLean followed, walking commissioners through the assault investigation against Khan, the Bateman interview, the NPA’s 15 December 2021 decision not to prosecute Khan and the 13 January 2022 CAS withdrawal, and the 7 September 2022 conversation in which Advocate Andrea Johnson allegedly told Roelofse that then NDPP Advocate Shamila Batohi had informed her of a protected disclosure that named her as its subject.

McLean told the commission he had waited for Batohi to retire before asking a new NDPP to enrol the case. All allegations are untested; Johnson, Khan and Batohi are presumed innocent. Mashazi, Mkhwanazi, Behari and Gxasheka were due back in the Germiston Magistrate’s Court the same day on the blue-lights arrests.