Madlanga Commission | Fire alarm goes off at Brigitte Mabandla Justice College

Added: 2026-05-06

[00:00:00]A fire alarm is said to have go gone off at the Bridget Mabanda Justice College.

[00:00:04]Uh just a drill or what is happening there? Let's find out from SBC News reporter Kenny Mapanga who joins us now.

[00:00:11]Kenny, good morning. So I see the fire truck uh light still on there behind you. Uh so um the fire alarm, was it just a drill? And just give us a sense of of course of also what's to be expected today?

[00:00:28]>> Indeed. Good morning to you Sakina and to the viewers, it seems that the alarms have gone off at the Bridget Mabanda Justice College. But before we get to the those minor details, it seems that we are back to regular programming because the emergency services are making their way out of the precinct now. So it looks like they did go in investigate the issue and we seem to be clear to go back into the auditorium now. However, the circumstances surrounding the alarm being triggered is what's still being investigated. We understand that Jeremy Michaels, the spokesperson to the Madanga Commission, will be uh joining us shortly to explain what could have possibly gone wrong. But it seems that just after 7:00 a.m. they had to evacuate us out of the auditorium building and into the parking lot. And that is when the emergency services arrived. And of course, the suits were stationed outside to get a directive as to what the next step is. Uh it seems that emergency services did go in and investigate the cause of that alarm going off and have since cleared the building for uh members of the public and the media to enter and the suits have gone back rather inside to uh resume their duties at their various stations inside the Bridget Mabanga Justice College. However, the exact cause, Sakina, behind this fire alarm that went off for quite some time just after 7:00 a.m. is a fact that still needs to be clarified by the Madanga Commission. Of course, Sakina, you know, this is one of the most secure venues in this particular area. And it's not clear what the possible breach, if any, was that led to the situation that you see right now. But with the way forward being cleared, it seems that we will see that evidence of Flynn continuing rather at 9:30 a.m. this morning. And then of course where we left off, Sakina, the application for the in camera bid of the final witness who is scheduled on uh Friday has been filed as of yesterday at 2 p.m. And what we understand is that because of that 72-hour notice that has to be given to the media, they are moving for that uh application to be made on Thursday. And should there be no objection uh Sakina to that particular application, it means that the commission will hear the details surrounding the docket on the ongoing investigations into that Port Shepston uh facility and the missing drugs will take place on Friday, but it will do so without the media and members of the public due to the sensitive nature of that particular evidence. In the main Sakina, what is being stated by the evidence leaders is that because this is an ongoing investigation and this particular witness wants to go into that particular criminal docket, if it were to be heard in public, it would have the consequence of uh I guess affecting the current investigation, giving police methods out and how they investigate these kind of drug searches and seizures, and giving sensitive information to future or possible suspects in this particular matter. So, it is of critical importance that this witness gives the evidence because it is quite relevant to the terms of reference, Sakina, but they want to do so in camera so that they don't jeopardize their current ongoing uh investigations, which according to the papers are said to be at an advanced stage. you expect for Major General Flynn to continue with evidence surrounding this Port Shepson facility and what Major General Sona uh may have done wrong allegedly in terms of this particular uh missing cocaine to the value of 200 million rand. And of course, we expect him to expand in this deeper probing questioning as to whether or not this particular incident was by design and whether these comedy of errors, if we could explain it that way, was not a coincidence. All that and more at 9:30 him.