National Coloured Congress (NCC) leader and Member of Parliament (MP) Fadiel Adams’ allegations that senior police officials had interfered with criminal investigations and intercepted case dockets came under intense scrutiny at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry.
Evidence leaders grilled him over his inability to provide any evidence for his claims.
On Thursday, Adams was testifying about charges he had laid against several senior police officials when he was referred to a letter he had written to suspended police minister, Senzo Mchunu. He did not provide details of what the charges were or who the officials were.
In the letter, Adams said he went to Johannesburg in November 2024, to open a case against the same officials after his initial case was supposedly ‘intercepted’ in Cape Town, in order to protect the individuals involved.
According to Adams, after travelling to Gauteng and opening cases at Orlando police station, he had been informed that Gauteng police were following the same modus operandi he had alleged was used by police in the Western Cape.
READ: ‘I was untruthful’ – Fadiel Adams concedes at Madlanga
He explained, “In my quest for justice, I travelled to Gauteng and opened the following cases as per Orlando SAPS (South African Police Service). However, I have also been notified that the Gauteng police followed the same modus operandi as the Western Cape PC and is interfering in the investigative process.”
Advocate Lee Segeels-Ncube, who was leading evidence, questioned Adams about the basis for the allegation.
She pointed out that Adams had laid the charges on November 1, yet by 8 am the following morning, he was already claiming that Gauteng police were scuppering the investigation.
“You made these claims based on what?” Segeels-Ncube asked.
Adams said he had received the information from the late general Andre Lincoln, whom he described as a person with insight into the matter.
According to Adams, Lincoln, the former head of the police’s Anti-Gang Unit (AGU), served as his primary confidential source of information.
Adams maintained that police officers protect one another and alleged that the information provided by Lincoln had prompted him to approach Orlando SAPS.
‘You cannot rely on a dead man every time’
Segeels-Ncube rejected the explanation:
“No, Mr. Adams, you have the CASe numbers, you cannot rely on a dead man every time. It is unacceptable.”
Segeels-Ncube then challenged the logic of Adams’s account.
“If we believe you, which I highly doubt that anyone does, that the Cape Town dockets were intercepted, you have now covered every base to make sure that Joburg dockets don’t get intercepted. But the next day you say to the minister the same thing has happened,” Segeels-Ncube said.
She further questioned whether Adams’s version meant that Lincoln and witness G had somehow been responsible for the alleged interception.
Witness G, an anonymous Crime Intelligence officer, had testified in camera before the commission in May 2026.
READ: Fadiel Adams says ‘fighting corruption’ put a target on his back
Adams responded that Lincoln was in Cape Town and, because he had no legs, could not physically have intercepted the dockets.
That prompted further questioning from Segeels-Ncube.
“And yet he knew that the dockets were intercepted?” she asked.
Adams clarified that Lincoln had told him police were attempting to repeat what had allegedly happened in Cape Town.
Commissioner Sesi Baloyi then intervened, arguing that Adams’s explanation appeared to contradict the wording of his own letter to the minister.
“Then it means you lied when you said in the letter to the minister the Gauteng police are doing exactly what Cape Town police did,” Baloyi said.
Adams conceded that the letter could have been worded differently.
“I could’ve written the letter better,” he said.
Purpose of writing to Mchunu
The questioning then turned to Adams’s purpose in writing directly to Minister Mchunu.
Adams said he expected the minister to refer the matter to either the Investigating Directorate for Anti-Corruption or the public prosecutor so that his allegations concerning the alleged interception of dockets and crime committed by police could be addressed.
However, Commission Chairperson Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga challenged Adams’s explanation of what he expected the minister to do.
Madlanga suggested that Adams was not being truthful about his expectations and that, in reality, he wanted the police minister to intervene directly and resolve the matter within the SAPS.
Adams conceded, once again, to Madlanga’s suggestion.
- NCC leader and MP Fadiel Adams alleged that senior police officials interfered with criminal investigations and intercepted case dockets.
- Adams testified he traveled to Johannesburg in November 2024 to open cases at Orlando police station after his initial case was allegedly intercepted in Cape Town.
- Adams claimed his primary confidential source was the late General Andre Lincoln, former head of the Anti-Gang Unit, who informed him about police interference.
- Advocate Lee Segeels-Ncube challenged Adams' claims, highlighting inconsistencies such as relying on information from a deceased source and contradictions in Adams' letter to the police minister.
- Adams admitted his letter to Minister Senzo Mchunu could have been worded differently and conceded that he wanted direct intervention from the police minister in the matter.
