Madlanga Commission | Brown Mogotsi seeks evidence leader’s recusal

Added: 2026-05-15

[00:00:00]Now, this story leads this hour. The Zondo Commission is set to hear a recusal application filed by controversial businessman and alleged political fixer Brian Molefe against chief evidence leader advocate Matthew Chaskalson.

[00:00:13]Molefe, who first appeared before the commission late last year, has raised concerns regarding Chaskalson's conduct.

[00:00:19]He has accused the advocate of attempting to portray him as dishonest and subjecting him to aggressive and humiliating questioning.

[00:00:30]All right, we are now joined by our reporter Khaya Manqanga, who was out at the commission. Khaya, a very good morning to you. Another day another day filled with questioning today. What's happening?

[00:00:42]Mhm.

[00:00:44]Indeed, good morning to you, Sphiwe, and to the viewers at home. We'll see the commission close off this leg of the hearings prior to that interim report that is expected on the 29th of May 2026 by closing off of that recusal application by Brian Molefe. Of course, this follows the evidence of a drug bust or drug seizures that has left the commission quite confused. We did see that Sibola, Lieutenant Colonel Sibola, who was the Hawks officer that descended on the Aeroton July 2021 Scania drug bust, gave his version of events yesterday, and I think we were left more confused about the purpose of the operation that was taking place at that particular facility. We're hearing evidence that they pounced on that facility because of three officers that were accused of impersonating crime intelligence officers and attempting to steal the 700 kg worth of drugs that is has an estimated street value of 300 million rands. However, the issue with the testimony of Sibola, who is on the other side, which clearly seems to justify or seek to justify his arrest of those three enforcement officers, is that there's flaws as well in depending on his particular conduct in terms of how he handled the crime scene when he took over. And I think the most important flaw which has raised the eyebrows of the commission is that when he gives his version of events, he doesn't seem to recognize or acknowledge the fact that Major General Khan, that is the crime intelligence official, along with Major General Kadwa, were at the scene at the time which was described as quite chaotic as they tried to seize or rather intercept those drugs that were found inside that Scania truck. And it raises questions as to why this particular individual didn't want to mention the presence of Khan at the operation or the crime scene, if we could put it that way. And this is against the backdrop of Warrant Officer Papola stating that he was on the other side. And of course, he was the one of the officers that was arrested. He stated that he had a conversation with Major General Khan after the chaos where he said that he felt or rather heard that the drugs belonged to Major General Khan. And when we speak to Sibola or rather when the commission probes him on those questions, it seems that he has no rational explanation behind why he took over a crime scene which wasn't a large space, Simpiwe. But he seemingly doesn't acknowledge that Major General Khan was there or Major General Kadwa. And it raises the question as to why this particular individual does not want to roam into that space. And what is implied or indicated in this particular evidence, even though the commission hasn't been able to crack it quite clearly, is that maybe both of these teams were not there for the correct reasons or allegedly to act in good faith. That is because flaws rather are found in both the conduct of the three officers on the one side as well as the Hawks officers that responded to the scene on the other side, raising questions as to whether or not these drug syndicates were allegedly working with those officers that pounced on that Ayrton drug bust and whether or not this could possibly be an alleged turf gun wrong, but those questions will be answered in June when the commission returns to that particular probe. In the next hour, we'll delve into Brian Molefe's recusal application and why he refuses to testify with advocate Thabani Masuku leading his evidence. It's over to you in studio.

[00:04:09]All right, Karyn. Thank you so much for that report. Karyn Mabu is out in Pretoria at the Mdlanga Commission and we see that well, Brian Molefe is still making headlines at least where it concerns the Mdlanga Commission of Inquiry.