Fadiel Adams arrested over alleged interference in Magaqa murder probe

On Tuesday, 5 May 2026, National Coloured Congress leader Fadiel Adams was arrested by the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT) at the Parliamentary Village and whisked away to a police station in connection with charges of fraud and defeating or obstructing the course of justice.

Adams’ arrest came hours after the police asked him to present himself at his nearest police station in connection with the charges.

The police have confirmed they are in possession of a J50 warrant of arrest. National police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe said the warrant related to allegations that Adams interfered with ongoing investigations into Magaqa’s killing.

“Through investigations, the task team discovered that Mr Adams interfered with the now convicted and sentenced hitman at a very sensitive and advanced stage of the police’s investigation,” she said.

Mathe added that the police had made extensive efforts to trace Fadiel Adams, including visits to multiple addresses linked to him. Despite arrangements made through his legal representative for him to hand himself over on Monday, 4 May 2026, he failed to do so.

Adams spoke to reporters during his arrest and suggested he believed the charges were trumped up to sideline him.

Assassination

This alleged interference stems from March this year when Adams told a Parliamentary ad hoc committee that the hitman behind the Magaqa murder had confessed to him, and that the SAPS had escorted killers to the scene while Crime Intelligence allegedly supplied the AK-47 used in the assassination.

He also claimed that a serving police sergeant had introduced him to an inmate described as one of the hitmen in the Magaqa case. Three other accused are still in custody, with one declared mentally unfit to stand trial.

Adams reportedly went to take a statement from the accused after he believed SAPS wasn’t acting fast enough.

At the time of Magaqa’s 2017 murder, he was a councillor in the Umzimkhulu Local Municipality. He was shot and killed, while two other councillors survived the hit.

Adams’ claims echo testimony previously aired before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry in January this year, where an undercover Crime Intelligence operative made similarly explosive allegations.

The officer, referred to only as Witness E for his own safety, said that two weeks before the murder, he received a phone call from one of the hitmen, who was an informant, outlining plans to “take out” Magaqa. Witness E said he alerted his superiors in Crime Intelligence, but the information was not acted on. He claimed that some of his senior officers were involved in executing the plot to murder Magaqa.

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Madlanga hears Crime Intelligence members were complicit in the murder of Sindiso Magaqa

January 26, 2026

In July 2025, Sibusiso Ncengwa was sentenced to an effective 25 years’ imprisonment by the KwaZulu-Natal Division of the High Court in Pietermaritzburg for Magaqa’s murder. He named his co-conspirators and the alleged mastermind, former municipal manager Stanley Sikhosana, who faces charges relating to the murder.

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Political Killings Task Team investigation leads to hitman’s conviction while Madlanga Commission continues

September 25, 2025

Ncengwa further implicated two senior municipal officials in Magaqa’s murder. He claims he was originally paid R120,000 and promised a R1-million contract.

Hanif Loonat, a member of the National Coloured Congress, stated on social media: “It’s clear that they want to get Fadiel to Durban to physically deal with him. This is to silence him.” DM