Witness F's testimony postponed by Madlanga Commission: What’s next?
Witness F’s testimony has been postponed after he called in sick.
Image: Oupa Mokoena / Independent Newspapers
The Madlanga Commission has postponed the hearing of Witness F after learning that he was hospitalised.
The commission said an application has been filed before the commission by the legal team representing the witness that has asked that proceedings be postponed to March 16.
Witness F was set to testify at the commission on Monday at 9:30am after abruptly withdrawing an urgent High Court application aimed at blocking his testimony and suppressing private WhatsApp messages seized from his phone.
The Gauteng organised crime officer had rushed to the North Gauteng High Court in a last-ditch effort to avoid taking the stand and to prevent the commission from displaying chats investigators believe could be explosive.
But as the commission pressed ahead, he retreated.
A partially protected witness, Witness F could deliver some of his evidence behind closed doors. Yet the issues surrounding him are anything but private.
He serves in Gauteng’s organised crime unit — an elite division tasked with dismantling drug syndicates and violent hijacking networks. He works under the suspended deputy police commissioner, Shadrack Sibiya.
Instead, testimony has painted a troubling picture of blurred loyalties and compromised operations.
Previous hearings linked him to questionable handling of sensitive information, including arrest warrants.
In one instance, he was allegedly sent by Sibiya, to an alleged cartel figure Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala.
The commission is probing whether such actions point to deeper systemic failures, or to individual misconduct enabled by weak oversight.
Witness F has not been criminally charged but Sibiya has denied corruption allegations against him.
The commission will resume on Wednesday.
kamogelo.moichela@iol.co.za
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