By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Madlanga Commission of Inquiry into criminality, political interference, and corruption in the criminal justice system, has ruled that Witness X’s testimony, will proceed behind closed doors.
Two media houses abandoned their application to oppose the hearings to be held behind closed doors however commission chair Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga emphasized that his decision was not influenced by that but the content of the evidence.
Madlanga emphasised that the in-camera hearing is limited to the witnesses involved in this ruling and does not extend beyond the scope set by the commission.
The current arrangement means that testimony for today and tomorrow will proceed in camera, with full oversight from the commission. Once the risk to the ongoing investigations has been mitigated, the evidence will be made publicly available, including transcripts.
The public and media are expected to return next week once the sensitive evidence has been handled.
Chief Evidence Leader, Advocate Mathew Chaskalson, told the commission that the decision to hold the in-camera hearing was driven by the content of the evidence, not the identity of the witness.
“The witness testifying today is going to testify about matters that are the subject of active, ongoing police investigations. When the police are at an advanced stage of investigations, one cannot ventilate the content of those investigations publicly without running the risk of compromising them,” he said.
Chaskalson explained that as soon as the risks to ongoing investigations have passed, the testimony will be made public.
“We hope very much that long before this commission concludes its business, the investigations will have reached a stage where they will no longer be at risk if this information becomes public, and as soon as that point is reached, the testimony from today will be made public,” he said.
It is not clear who today’s witness but it is believed someone from the South African Police Service (SAPS).
The inquiry continues to investigate political interference, criminality, and corruption within South Africa’s criminal justice system, issues seen as central to restoring public trust in law enforcement institutions.
To date, five witnesses have testified before the commission, including SAPS intelligence head Dumisani Khumalo; KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi; National police commissioner Fannie Masemola; and Petronella Margaretha van Rooyen, head of legal services in the police.
KZN Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Elaine Harrison, has also given her evidence.
Most of the witnesses have corroborated one another’s evidence, confirming that Police Minister Senzo Mchunu’s directive to disband the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT) exceeded his mandate.