Brian Padayachee, a senior investigator with the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption, testifies at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry on 14 July. (Photo: Frennie Shivambu / Gallo Images) A senior investigator at the Investigative Directorate Against Corruption (Idac) on Tuesday, 14 July, told the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry that he was unaware of any political interference in the directorate. Furthermore, Brian Padayachee denied knowledge of any cabal linked to embattled Crime Intelligence officer Feroz Khan.
Before joining Idac, Padayachee worked in the police service for decades, including a stint at Crime Intelligence.
Padayachee appeared confident at the start of his testimony, but when commissioners and evidence leaders questioned him about investigations into Crime Intelligence officers (excluding Khan), he seemed less assured.
‘No Khan cabal that I know of’
Padayachee testified that while he knows Khan professionally, “I have no knowledge of a ‘Khan-Idac’ cabal within the Idac. It follows that if such a cabal exists, I am not party to it.”
Padayachee noted that the Khan described in testimony before the Madlanga Commission — where evidence suggests Khan’s involvement in tender rigging and politically motivated collusion — did not match his own experience. “This is indeed not the person I know,” said Padayachee. Khan is also facing separate, unrelated allegations in a precious metals court case.
Crime Intelligence and cabal claims
Allegations of rogue elements operating within Idac — which falls under the National Prosecuting Authority — and the SAPS Crime Intelligence unit have fuelled claims of a “cabal” operating between the two. Beyond the speculation, several concrete links exist between the two entities:
- Idac head Andrea Johnson’s husband is a Crime Intelligence officer.
- The Madlanga Commission recently heard allegations that Johnson had leaked information to Khan, suggesting an alliance between them.
- Padayachee previously worked at Crime Intelligence, knew Khan, and was instrumental in the 2025 arrest of the then head of Crime Intelligence, Dumisani Khumalo. Police officers have suggested Khumalo was set up and arrested to protect criminals.
Accusations about Khan and an Idac “cabal” surfaced after KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi alleged, during a July 2025 press conference, that a drug cartel had infiltrated South Africa’s criminal justice, politics and private security sectors.
Mkhwanazi alleged that there was a rogue element in Idac and inferred that some Crime Intelligence officers were protecting criminals. He named Khan in some of his accusations.
Idac head Andrea Johnson, who has denied that Idac was maliciously targeting police officers, was scheduled to testify before the Madlanga Commission on Monday, but the commission heard she had been rushed to hospital shortly before the proceedings began.
‘Khan is a state witness’
Last week the Madlanga Commission heard that Johnson allegedly leaked the contents of a criminal complaint against Khan — to Khan. He was also meant to have testified before the commission, but was wounded in a shooting in Johannesburg in late June and remains hospitalised.
/file/attachments/2994/feroz_khan_20260630061322_102365.jpeg "Crime Intelligence deputy head Major General Feroz Khan. (Photo: OJ Koloti / Gallo Images)")
On Tuesday, Padayachee testified: “I had strictly an official working relationship with him. General Khan is also a State witness in two Idac criminal cases that are pending before the Pretoria Magistrates’ Court involving senior Crime Intelligence officers.”
Padaychee was the investigating officer in both those cases.
He fits into the bigger picture because, as an Idac investigator, he played a key role in a case against senior policeman Dumisani Khumalo.
The Khumalo case
Khumalo was the head of Crime Intelligence, and Idac arrested him and several colleagues in June last year, shortly before Mkhwanazi went public with his allegations.
The arrested officers faced accusations relating to an allegedly irregular appointment, which they denied.
What is the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (Idac)?
Last year the Presidency said: “The National Prosecuting Authority Amendment Act of 2024 established the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption […] as a permanent entity with enhanced police powers and criminal investigation capabilities. Idac officially commenced operations in August 2024.”
The complaints against Khumalo and other Crime Intelligence officers — which led to their arrests — were originally referred to Idac by National Coloured Congress leader Fadiel Adams. In his referral, Adams accused Khumalo and his colleagues of being “busy with the systematic capture of the Criminal Intelligence division” by allegedly “manipulating” procurement and appointment processes.
Notably, Adams has a contentious relationship with Mkhwanazi. He is currently facing charges of fraud and defeating the ends of justice in a separate case playing out in KwaZulu-Natal — Mkhwanazi’s home province.
/file/attachments/orphans/ED_609094_402772.jpg "NCC leader Fadiel Adams appears in the Pinetown Magistrates' Court on 15 May. He faces charges of fraud and defeating the ends of justice. (Photo: Darren Stewart / Gallo Images)")
During Tuesday’s proceedings, the commission chair, Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, questioned “whether the investigation [relating to Crime Intelligence officers] was pursuant to a referral that was properly grounded” — essentially, whether Adams’ complaint warranted an investigation.
Madlanga challenged Padayachee on this point, asking: “Just because Mr Adams says he suspects [something] without substantiating, then for you that’s sufficient. How can that be?”
Padayachee said he may have interpreted allegations in a certain way. He insisted that he was telling the truth.
Earlier, Padayachee explained to the commission that he was the “docket holder” in the case against Khumalo, to which Johnson assigned him.
Mkhwanazi previously made it clear that he believed Khumalo had been set up and arrested to protect certain criminals.
/file/attachments/orphans/WhatsAppImage2026-01-15at114119_719243.jpeg "Lieutenant General Dumisani Khumalo appears before Parliament’s ad hoc committee on 15 January. (Photo: Phando Jikelo / RSA Parliament)")
But on Tuesday, Padayachee testified that before Khumalo and his colleagues were detained in June last year, he had told Mkhwanazi that Khumalo was going to be taken into custody.
Padayachee said Mkhwanazi responded, “Well, they must face their own situations.”
He said he had considered Khumalo “as a friend” and they had known each other since 2006.
‘No political interference’
Mkhwanazi has accused Padayachee of not being properly qualified for his Idac job and of playing an underhanded role in the Khumalo case, allegations which Padayachee addressed on Tuesday.
He detailed the training he underwent as a police officer and pointed to an illustrious career in the service, saying the suggestion that he was not properly qualified as an Idac investigator was “void, empty and bereft of a factual foundation. It is baseless.”
Padayachee said there was no “political interference” relating to his work. “I’ve never received any calls or been placed under pressure,” he said.
He also reflected on Mkhwanazi’s July 2025 press conference — the event where the allegations of drug cartel infiltration were first raised, triggering the current Madlanga Commission inquiry.
“I was applauding him,” Padayachee testified. “He is one of the best [who] address corruption and crime directly.”
/file/attachments/orphans/ED_600723_816140.jpg "Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi testifies at the parliamentary ad hoc committee on 18 March. (Photo: Brenton Geach / Gallo Images)")
Padayachee emphasised that he had been in contact with Mkhwanazi before the pivotal press conference.
He said Mkhwanazi even invited him to his home. DM
What’s next?
The Madlanga Commission of Inquiry was recently granted an extension. More witnesses are expected to testify before it, and it aims to wrap up its hearings during October and then complete a report on the hearings, which will be presented to President Cyril Ramaphosa. DM