Madlanga Commission turns one: 110 witnesses, 26 352 pages and arrests

One hundred and ten witnesses have testified before the Madlanga Commission in its first year, and the inquiry says real consequences have already followed for people who appeared before it.

The Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Criminality, Political Interference and Corruption in the Criminal Justice System, chaired by former Constitutional Court Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, marks a year since its first hearings on Thursday. President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the inquiry in July 2025.

Its establishment followed a series of serious allegations by KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi about an alleged criminal syndicate that had spread influence into law enforcement agencies, the National Prosecuting Authority and the intelligence services.

What the year produced

Commission spokesperson Jeremy Michael said the milestone mattered because consequences had flowed while the inquiry was still underway.

“Numerous individuals who have appeared before the Commission have been arrested, are facing criminal charges, have appeared in court, have been suspended or have resigned from their jobs,” he said ahead of the anniversary.

Witnesses over the year have included law enforcement officers, officials of the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption and the NPA, experts, Members of Parliament and private individuals.

The hearings have produced 26 352 pages of oral testimony transcripts. A further 105 282 pages of documentary evidence sit in 750 document bundles or files, with the necessary redactions applied.

The commission’s hotline received 1 894 telephone calls, of which 1 472, or 78%, concerned matters outside its terms of reference. Members of the public sent 4 548 emails, of which 3 295, or 72%, were out of scope.

Roughly 22 in-camera applications were considered and nineteen were granted. One grant was later revoked, and that witness testified openly. Eight hearings were held fully in camera, one of which was later released to the public as a redacted transcript. Eleven hearings were held partially in camera.

The commission has been a party to three High Court applications. One, brought by Suliman Carrim, was dismissed. Two separate applications, brought by Major General Feroz Khan and Sergeant Fannie Nkosi, were withdrawn. A recusal application against an Evidence Leader was brought and dismissed.

On 2 June 2026, Day 111, the commission heard from five witnesses in a single day, its highest number so far.

The witness who did not come back

The commission asked South Africans to pause and remember Marius van der Merwe, who testified as Witness D and was killed in front of his family on 5 December 2025.

It also acknowledged the people who came forward with information and testimony, some of them at serious risk to their own safety.

Michael thanked the commission’s staff, its security personnel, the relevant state institutions and the media, and said the support from the public was appreciated.

“In the period ahead, the Commission will continue to diligently conduct its inquiry without fear, favour or prejudice,” he said.

The commission has not published a date for the conclusion of its work, and no reporting deadline or final hearing date appears in this anniversary statement.

This account is drawn from the commission’s own anniversary statement, published by SAnews, the South African Government News Agency, which summarises the year rather than reproducing the hearing record itself.

Source: SAnews (South African Government News Agency), Madlanga Commission marks one year since first hearings, https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/madlanga-commission-marks-one-year-first-hearings