By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Senior Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) investigator Mantsha Raphesu faced questioning regarding conflicting affidavits, case timelines, and the handling of suspect lists amid ongoing testimony pointing to internal friction within the directorate.
The Madlanga Commission of Inquiry heard that Rapeshu obtained a supplementary statement from NCC leader Faziel Adams, in which he alleged that former police minister Bheki Cele illegally diverted money from the Secret Service account.
During his testimony on Friday, Rapesu told the commission that the directorate subjected him to disciplinary action, over claims that he leaked sensitive information.
He revealed that suspended Senior Investigator, Brian Padayachee, accused him of putting his life in danger for informing a suspect that he was being sought by the directorate.
Rapesu said the matter related to an IDAC investigation in which politician and police minister Chief of Staff, Cedrick Nkabinde, was a suspect.
He suggested that Padayachee and suspended Chief Investigator, Dylan Perumel, were attempting to frame him.
Raphesu offered to submit his cellphone for forensic analysis and undergo a polygraph test to prove his innocence.
He also told the commission that although he remains employed by IDAC, he has effectively been sidelined and is no longer permitted to investigate certain categories of cases, particularly those involving members of the South African Police Service and the security cluster
Raphesu further testified that IDAC was not forthcoming with information linked to Adams’s Section 27 referral. He said the referral was only the second he had handled at IDAC, but came with several challenges.
In the original complaint, Adams asked the IDAC to investigate the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT) over the alleged abuse of the Secret Service Slush (SSS) Fund.
In Adams’ whistleblower report, known as a Section 27 referral, he alleged that luxury vehicles and hotel accommodations were paid for using SSS funds.
In December 2024, former IDAC head Andrea Johnson assigned Adams’ whistleblower report to prosecutor Drushantha Ramsamy, who later shared the report with Raphesu.
Ramsamy and Raphesu said Adams’ report focused extensively on the PKTT’s alleged abuse of the Secret Service Slush Fund.
But Raphesu said he was shocked when Johnson later presented Parliament with a different document, claiming it was Adams’ official whistleblower report.
There was a point where she indicated that the PKTT was not part of the Section 27 referral. I was shocked because the Section 27 that I saw, that information was there.”
Meanwhile Adams is set to appear before the commission on 11 August.
Adams attracted national attention after the commission heard that he had lodged a Section 27 referral complaint with the IDAC, alleging that criminal cases he had previously opened against Crime Intelligence officials were being intercepted.
He sought IDAC’s intervention, but the commission has raised concerns about the decision to investigate the complaint, saying the allegations against the officials were not supported by sufficient evidence.