Mkhwanazi Knew Arrests Loomed

PRETORIA – The Madlanga Commission has heard that KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi was aware that arrests involving senior Crime Intelligence officials were approaching while Major-General Feroz Khan was preparing to testify in related investigations.

Senior Investigating Directorate Against Corruption investigator Brian Padayachee presented evidence before the commission on Tuesday, 14 July 2026, about IDAC investigations involving Crime Intelligence officials.

Padayachee told the commission that Mkhwanazi had previously provided IDAC with an affidavit supporting one of its investigations. He said Khan was identified as a witness in two cases being handled by the directorate.

Mkhwanazi had prior contact with investigator

According to the evidence presented, Mkhwanazi and Padayachee had communicated about the investigations before arrests were carried out.

This evidence is significant because Mkhwanazi later publicly questioned the cases brought against senior Crime Intelligence officials and suggested that the prosecutions formed part of an attempt to discredit the division.

Padayachee rejected those claims during his testimony. He told the commission that IDAC’s cases were supported by evidence and denied that the investigations had been politically motivated or designed to target Crime Intelligence officials unfairly.

Khan identified as a witness

Padayachee said suspended Crime Intelligence official Feroz Khan was a witness in two of the investigations under discussion.

Khan had been scheduled to begin testifying before the Madlanga Commission on 1 July 2026. However, his appearance was delayed after he was shot and wounded in Johannesburg shortly before his scheduled testimony.

He reportedly remained in hospital while his legal representatives expressed optimism that he would be able to continue participating in court and commission proceedings once his condition improved.

Khan’s anticipated evidence has attracted intense interest because investigators reportedly recovered communications and other information from electronic devices confiscated from him.

The allegations emerging from those devices have not yet been fully tested through cross-examination or determined by a criminal court.

IDAC defends Khumalo investigation

A major part of Padayachee’s testimony focused on IDAC’s criminal case against Crime Intelligence head Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo and other officials.

Khumalo and three other officials were arrested in June 2025 on fraud and corruption allegations. The case relates to claims that they irregularly facilitated the appointment of an allegedly inexperienced candidate to a senior position within Crime Intelligence.

Mkhwanazi previously accused IDAC of pursuing Khumalo on what he described as fabricated or weak charges.

Padayachee rejected that accusation, telling the commission that the directorate had sufficient evidence to sustain the criminal case against Khumalo and the other accused officials.

Investigation reportedly began with complaint

The commission heard that the Khumalo investigation arose from a complaint submitted by ActionSA Member of Parliament Fadiel Adams.

Padayachee’s evidence was intended to explain the origin of the investigation and respond to allegations that IDAC investigators had acted with improper motives.

He maintained that investigators had followed the evidence and that there had been no political interference in the decision to pursue the matter.

The accused remain presumed innocent unless and until they are convicted by a court.

Contradictions under examination

The testimony places renewed attention on Mkhwanazi’s knowledge of the IDAC investigations before the arrests.

The commission is expected to examine whether his prior cooperation with investigators is consistent with his subsequent claims that the cases were orchestrated to damage Crime Intelligence.

Mkhwanazi has previously testified that he believed some investigations and arrests involving senior police officials formed part of a strategy to weaken Crime Intelligence and make its officials appear corrupt.

Padayachee’s evidence presents a different account, suggesting that Mkhwanazi knew about key aspects of the investigations and had provided information supporting at least one of them.

Why the testimony matters

The Madlanga Commission is investigating allegations of corruption, political interference and criminal infiltration within South Africa’s law-enforcement institutions.

The relationship between IDAC investigators, Crime Intelligence officials and senior provincial police commanders is therefore central to determining whether criminal cases were properly investigated or influenced by competing interests inside the security establishment.

Further evidence and cross-examination will be necessary before the commission makes findings about Mkhwanazi’s conduct, Khan’s role or the validity of the cases against Khumalo and the other accused officials.