Madlanga Commission postponed due to Khumalo illness
The Madlanga Commission of Inquiry was forced to adjourn its proceedings on Wednesday morning after Crime Intelligence boss Dumisani Khumalo was declared unwell, leaving him unable to testify.
Chairperson Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga made the announcement just after the session was due to start.
“Our witness Dumisani Khumalo is not well, we as the commission have decided not to sit today. Our spokesperson Mr Jeremy Micheals will announce when we will resume, so we are taking an adjournment, you will hear from our spokesperson. Let us adjourn, thank you,” said Madlanga.
With that declaration, the commission halted and awaits the formal announcement of a new schedule from its spokesperson.
On Tuesday, Khumalo testified about the so-called “Big Five” criminal cartel and its infiltration of politics and policing structures.
On the cartel’s political reach, Khumalo said, “The 'Big Five' has already penetrated the political sphere and there are documented cases of high-profile connections in the political arena.”
On the figures involved, he said Katiso ‘KT' Molefe and Vusimuzi ‘Cat’ Matlala are linked to the 'Big Five' cartel, implicated in drug trafficking, tender fraud, and contract killings.
On alleged influence-peddler Brown Mogotsi, Khumalo told the commission that
Mogotsi uses his influence within the SAPS and the ministry to manipulate SAPS processes so as to frustrate criminal investigations into Vusimuzi Matlala.
On Mogotsi’s claims of high-level support, he said Mogotsi purports to have been acting in this regard with the support of Minister of Police Senzo Mchunu as well as his chief of staff and Deputy National Police Commissioner Shadrack Sibiya.
On the cartel’s structure, he said the syndicates, which are operational units of the cartel, consist of between 10 and 12 members that are recruited based on their experience in terms of dealing with one of the commodities that the cartel is specialising on.
“What the chats demonstrate is that organised crime has managed to infiltrate … EMPD at the very highest level,” he said.
Khumalo also told the commission that Matlala’s associates allegedly funded ANC events and secured government contracts through pressure and manipulation.
He claimed Mogotsi leaked classified SAPS information and intervened to protect tenders benefiting a Matlala-linked company, Medicare 24, in Tshwane.
Khumalo was due to continue unpacking WhatsApp exchanges said to show how Mogotsi acted as a middleman for Matlala, and possibly linked him to Mchunu.
The commission was also set to probe the financial and political influence networks tied to the 'Big Five' cartel.
Instead, the proceedings have been suspended until further notice. A new date will be announced once Khumalo is fit to return.
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