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MP Fadiel Adams’ complaint, which led to the controversial arrest of police crime intelligence boss Lt-Gen Dumisani Khumalo, did not entirely give the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (Idac) jurisdiction and lacked “substance” in his suspicions, the Madlanga commission of inquiry heard on Tuesday. Idac, led by advocate Andrea Johnson, has been accused of acting outside its legal mandate with claims it was being used by senior police officers in factional clashes.Khumalo was arrested at OR Tambo International Airport on corruption charges after the crime intelligence unit’s employment of “unqualified civilian” Brig Dineo Mokwele in a senior post in SAPS crime intelligence.KwaZulu-Natal provincial SAPS head Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi called the arrest and charges a ploy to delay organised crime investigations. Idac senior investigator Col Brian Padayachee, who is investigating the corruption case against Khumalo, conceded that not all complaints made by Adams against senior crime intelligence officials “on the face of his affidavit” engaged Idac’s jurisdiction as stipulated in law to trigger an investigation. Read: Mkhwanazi knew of crime intelligence boss Khumalo’s arrest, investigator testifiesPadayachee said he investigated the case against Khumalo due to the serious nature of the allegations and believed it fell within legal requirements of Idac investigations. Questioned on the procedural grounds followed by Idac in investigating Adams’s complaints, Padayachee said that when he probed the case against Khumalo he did not have sight of Adams’s referral affidavit but only received it much later. He said he was not involved in the process of deciding whether Adams’ complaint met Idac’s jurisdiction, and such questions would be best answered by his boss, Johnson. Commission chair retired justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, however, was not convinced by his testimony, saying it is “highly improbable” he would have conducted the investigation without a copy of the main complaint. Padayachee responded: “If somebody comes here and says, ‘No, but I gave Brian Payachee that section 27 affidavit’, I am saying to you, and I am under oath, that I never received that section 27 referral until a couple of months ago when it became an issue and I had sight into it.” The issue of whether the complaint met Idac’s jurisdiction is central to the case probed by the commission, which suggests Idac acted outside its legal mandate.Read: EDITORIAL | Madlanga inquiry deserves time to finish cleaning up police corruptionPadayachee denied allegations of political influence or malice by Idac by probing the case against Khumalo and other crime intelligence officers. “I deny these allegations. They are baseless and devoid of merit. The Idac has sufficient evidence to sustain the charges in the criminal case against Lt-Gen Khumalo and other officials at crime intelligence,” Padayachee said. “I deny as baseless any allegations of political interference or hidden agendas in respect of the investigations that are conducted by the Idac against these senior officers with crime intelligence.” The case against Khumalo has caused a stir in the police force and crime intelligence.Khumalo was charged with fraud and corruption alongside crime intelligence CFO Maj-Gen Philani Lushaba, intelligence analysis and co-ordination head Maj-Gen Nosipho Precious Madondo, Gauteng crime intelligence head Maj-Gen Josias Lekalakala, Maj-Gen Zwelithini Gabela and Brig Phindile Ncube.Business Day
