A State Advocate from the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC), Drushantha Ramsamy, has accused former IDAC head Advocate Andrea Johnson, of lying under oath and fabricating documents related to an affidavit by MP Fadiel Adams.
Ramsamy made the startling allegations against Johnson during her testimony at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry on Thursday.
Evidence before the commission showed that Adams’ affidavit was subsequently used to launch an investigation and lay fraud and corruption charges against SAPS Crime Intelligence boss Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo and other senior officers, who were also arrested.
Part of their charges related to the alleged unlawful hiring of civilian Dineo Mokwele as a brigadier in the unit.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has since withdrawn charges against Khumalo and his co-accused, including Mokwele who was also arrested and charged.
During her testimony Ramsamy painted a damning picture of the unit, telling the commission that IDAC investigations can be manipulated due to a lack of checks and balances.
She told the commission that while prosecution-led investigations are a “brilliant method if done correctly”, IDAC in its current state allows those in charge to dictate the course of cases.
“It is so easy at this point… to manipulate the statements, who the suspects are, how the investigation should proceed, who witnesses will be… what witnesses will say and how they will say it,” she said.
Ramsamy told the commission that Johnson had not been truthful in her evidence.
She said the version of Adams’ affidavit that was presented to the commission was not the same document Johnson had given her on December 5, 2024 with the 12 names of those allegedly implicated in wrongdoings.
For example, Ramsamy said an affidavit she was given by Johnson indicated that Major-General Madondo had failed a polygraph test while applying for security clearance.
However, the version of the affidavit “flighted” at the commission made no mention of a polygraph test and that vetting was referenced “in a different context”.
Ramsamy further stated that the affidavit she had seen contained allegations of procurement irregularities within Crime Intelligence concerning the procurement of a forklift.
However, the version presented to the commission made no reference to the forklift.
She further testified that the affidavit provided to her contained several allegations of alleged criminal conduct by the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT), such as vehicle procurement, an excessive budget allocation for laundry services, and the use of the secret service account.
However, none of these were reflected in the affidavit placed before the commission.
Ramsamy said: “Allegations about PKTT featured prominently in Mr Adams section 27 affidavit, yet the one flighted made no mention of the PKTT. The allegations of Brigadier Mokwele’s appointment was more a throw away allegation on the section 27 affidavit that I saw.”
According to her, the affidavit presented to the commission made no mention of the claim that vehicles procured for the PKTT were being used by former Police Minister Bheki Cele for personal use despite that they were part of the allegations in the affidavit she saw.
Another allegation omitted, Ramsamy said, was that the affidavit handed to her mentioned the purchasing of hotels, lodges and properties using the secret service account. However, the one placed before the commission contained no reference to those purchases.
“When Mr (Brian) Padayachee (IDAC senior investigator) testified before the commission a document was flighted and it was identified as section 27 referral affidavit of Mr Fadiel Adams….When I saw the document my heart dropped to my stomach because this was not section 27 that Advocate Johnson gave me on December 5 2024. In fact, I saw this document for the first time when it was ‘flighted’ at the commission,” she said.
Ramsamy told the commission that both Johnson and Padayachee struggled to reconcile the allegations in the Section 27 affidavit presented to the commission with the Section 28(13) authorisation.
Ramsamy said this was because the Section 27 affidavit she used to prepare the Section 28(13) application – and which formed the basis for the authorisation – was not the same affidavit that was later presented to the commission.
According to Ramsamy, Johnson instructed her to work urgently on the application, saying she wanted to approve the Section 28(13) investigation by December 6, 2024. She said Johnson provided no explanation for the deadline.
On October 9, 2025, Ramsamy said Johnson’s personal assistant Innocent Sekhukhune, contacted her.
Sekhukhune told her that IDAC chief investigator Dylan Perumal had called that same day asking about the original Section 27 referral affidavit’s whereabouts.
Ramsamy told the commission that in September 2025 and early October 2025, the accused persons in the Mokwele matter submitted numerous requests for the Section 27 referral affidavit.
She said both Perumal and Johnson experienced difficulty locating the affidavit and may have assumed that she possessed it.
“My suspicion is that the flighted section 27 referral affidavit was created at that stage and after Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi’s press briefing on July 6 2025, where he indicated that IDAC was investigating PKTT,” she said.
The commission is expected to recall Johnson to the witness stand to respond to the allegations made by Ramsamy.
Ramsamy’s testimony continues.
rapula.moatshe@inl.co.za
