By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Madlanga Commission of Inquiry challenged the outgoing IDAC head Advocate Andrea Johnson over her evidence regarding the investigation into Political Killings Task Team (PKTT).
Johnson has conceded that the unit acted outside its mandate by investigating the PKKT.
This concession follows an intense questioning from the commissioners.
Johnson was forced to make a series of concessions in her five-day testimony that she had exercised independent prosecutorial judgment before recommending charges against senior Crime Intelligence officials. She:
- Admitted she had not personally reviewed key documents before signing the memorandum recommending prosecution.
- Accepted she could not independently verify that the documents supported the definitive conclusions set out in her memorandum to the Directorate for Public Prosecutions.
- Acknowledged making categorical assertions about the evidence, applicable legal provisions and the accused’s alleged involvement, despite not having personally examined all the underlying material.
- Accepted that she could not independently verify that the documents supported the conclusions set out in her memorandum.
- Acknowledged making definitive assertions about the evidence and the accused’s involvement, despite not having personally examined all the underlying material.
Johnson faced sustained questioning from Commission chair Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga over her approval of an April 2025 summons requesting information on the promotions of PKTT commanders and members, despite maintaining earlier that she had not been aware the specialised police unit was under investigation.
Madlanga challenged her explanation, pointing to widespread public reporting about the then-Police Minister Senzo Mchunu’s controversial attempt to disband the PKTT in December 2024, months before Johnson authorised the summons.
Johnson acknowledged that IDAC had investigated matters beyond its legal mandate, including SAPS promotions, reinforcing an earlier concession that the directorate had also investigated the PKTT despite it falling outside its jurisdiction.
Although Johnson insisted there had been “no sinister motive” behind the summons and said it related to promotions granted through deviations, the commission questioned whether she had deliberately ignored clear warning signs.
She reiterated that she could not recall instructing investigators to examine the PKTT and that she had only recently learnt that they had done so.
Johnson said the first time she learned that IDAC was looking into the PKTT was at the commission on Monday.
“It’s the first time I see it in the affidavit. And I know that I also indicated earlier, chair, that I needed to find out if they had in fact done investigations,” responded Johnson.
In a separate supplementary affidavit, NCC leader Fadiel Adams had also alleged that money from the Secret Service account had been used to purchase resources for the PKTT.
Johnson said she had been unaware that IDAC senior investigator Dylan Perumal had obtained that statement. She told the commission that it would ultimately have to determine which of the four supplementary statements taken by investigator Mantsha Rapeshu and Perumal accurately reflected Adams’s evidence.
Commissioner Sisi Baloyi questioned why IDAC had pursued allegations against SAPS crime intelligence head Dumisani Khumalo while appearing to overlook Adams’s claims against former minister Bheki Cele concerning the misuse of Secret Service account funds, which she said fell squarely within the directorate’s mandate.
Baloyi suggested that amounted to “selective prosecution”.
She told the commission there had been an investigation into allegations that Cele had misused the Secret Service account but said the available evidence had been inconclusive.
“I couldn’t determine from what we had whether a vehicle had, in fact, been procured for the former minister,” Johnson said. “Even if the allegations were that secret funds were taken and used for him or given to him, I couldn’t say with certainty or any clarity that it was about a vehicle.”