Madlanga Commission | Fadiel Adams set to testify in August

National Coloured Congress (NCC) leader and member of Parliament (MP), Fadiel Adams, is set to appear before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry on 11 August.

Adams attracted national attention after the commission heard that he had lodged a Section 27 referral complaint with the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC), alleging that criminal cases he had previously opened against Crime Intelligence officials were being intercepted.

He sought IDAC’s intervention, but the commission has raised concerns about the decision to investigate the complaint, saying the allegations against the officials were not supported by sufficient evidence.

Commission spokesperson, Jeremy Michaels, says the commission has been engaging with Adams since last year.

“The leader of the National Coloured Congress was first first served with a rule 3 notice on the 3rd of October last year and there has been a back and forth correspondence between Mr Adams and our legal team. And I can now confirm that he will indeed appear before the commission on the 11th of August,” said Michaels.

Meanwhile, IDAC Senior Investigator, Mantsha Rapesu, says the directorate subjected him to disciplinary action, allegedly over claims that he leaked sensitive information.

Rapesu testified before the commission on Friday, revealing that suspended Senior Investigator, Brian Padayachee, accused him of putting his life in danger for allegedly informing a suspect that he was being sought by the directorate.

Rapesu said the matter related to an IDAC investigation in which politician and police minister Chief of Staff, Cedrick Nkabinde, was a suspect.

He suggested that Padayachee and suspended Chief Investigator, Dylan Perumel, were attempting to frame him.

Raphesu further testified that IDAC was not forthcoming with information linked to Adams’s Section 27 referral.

He said the referral was only the second he had handled at IDAC, but came with several challenges.

Raphesu also testified that IDAC’s complaint against members of the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT) was based, in part, on what the directorate considered to be lavish lifestyles.

He said IDAC alleged that part of the Secret Service Fund was used to purchase luxury vehicles for former Police Minister, Bheki Cele, and PKTT members, as well as property in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.

“So the lines that I have seen, it was a complaint about the accommodation of the PKTT where it was talking about how lavish it was and there was an issue about the laundry and the cost of the laundry for the members of the PKTT was costing. I think it was something between R400 000 and R500 000, something like that. There was also an issue about Luxury vehicles that were bought through the slush fund,” said Rapesu.

The commission will resume proceedings on Tuesday.

Written by: Odirile Rabalao