A secret witness testifying before the Madlanga commission has picked up where Crime Intelligence boss Lt-Gen Dumisani Khumalo left off, and is tracing the phone records of attempted murder accused Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala.
The commission investigating allegations of criminality, political interference and corruption in the criminal justice system resumed hearing testimony on Tuesday after an almost two-week halt. The commission’s hearings came to an abrupt pause when Khumalo became unwell on October 1 and could not give evidence.
Khumalo was the person expected to flesh out the accusations and claims made by KwaZulu-Natal provincial commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi and national police commissioner Gen Fannie Masemola of criminal syndicate infiltration in the SA Police Service (SAPS).
The witness, whose identity has been withheld from the public for safety reasons, will testify on some of the evidence that Khumalo was meant to deliver.
That included evidence about WhatsApp messages between Matlala and KwaZulu-Natal directorate for priority crime investigation provincial (Hawks) head Maj-Gen Lesetja Senona, Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) deputy chief Julius Mkhwanazi, fraud investigator Calvin Rafadi and businessperson Suleiman Kareem.
The messages were said to have been found on Matlala’s phone when he was arrested on May 14.
The witness said the messages would show Senona had a close relationship with Matlala, who is “implicated in serious crimes including attempted murder fraud, and corruption”.
The messages would also reveal a “beneficiary relationship” that Senona and his son, Thato, had with Matlala, and discussions about a property purchase, the commission was told.
The witness further testified the SAPS verified the contact details of those found on Matlala’s phone. Evidence leader Adila Hassim asked the witness whether there was verification the property purchase discussed by the three was finalised, and the witness said “no”.
Protecting witnesses
The evidence of the witness, referred to as witness X, was supposed to be heard in-camera and not disclosed to the public on Tuesday, but the commission evidence leaders reached an agreement with two media houses, News24 and Daily Maverick, who challenged the closed hearings.
Advocate Matthew Chaskalson, the commission’s chief evidence leader, said the evidence leaders agreed with the media’s houses that the witness’ identity and voice would not be disclosed to the public. Thus lawyer Thabang Pooe, part of the commission, repeated the testimony of the witness for the benefit of the public.
Chaskalson said the same would happen on Wednesday, to give the public information but also to protect the safety of witnesses.
The evidence leaders have also applied for in-camera hearings on Thursday and Friday. They have not reached an agreement with the media houses on those hearings.
From the beginning of the commission’s work, Chaskalson said the commission would prioritise human life “at all costs” and could even withhold evidence and information from the public that could endanger witnesses’ lives.
Technical problems
The commission halted the testimony for hours on Tuesday due to technical issues. Commission chair Mbuyiseli Madlanga said the technical difficulties had the potential to endanger the safety of the witness.
“We decided to stop the proceedings. This decision has not been taken lightly because this commission values and respects transparency. Transparency cannot be at the risk of endangering the safety of witness X; thus we must adopt a different format of how witness X’s evidence must be tendered,” he said.
He ruled that the evidence leader, Hassim, would read witness X’s statement into the record.
The hearings continue
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