Pretoria — 30 July 2026
Three senior officials at the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) — chief investigator Dylan Perumal, senior investigator Brian Padayachee, and investigator Suneel Bellochun — have been suspended, becoming the latest casualties of testimony at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry.
The suspensions were confirmed on Thursday by Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi and National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) Advocate Andy Mothibi. Kubayi said she had placed Perumal on suspension pending disciplinary proceedings, while Mothibi acted to suspend Padayachee and Bellochun. Mothibi said his office had begun disciplinary processes “against people who have been found wanting within IDAC.”
The trigger: Ramsamy’s testimony
The suspensions followed explosive testimony from IDAC state advocate Drushantha Ramsamy, who appeared before the commission at the Brigitte Mabandla Justice College in Pretoria on Thursday — a day after former IDAC head Advocate Andrea Johnson wrapped up six days on the stand.
Ramsamy used her opening remarks to directly contradict Johnson’s earlier evidence, telling commissioners: “Adv Johnson told many untruths about me and my involvement in what is now known as the Mokwele case.” She alleged Johnson had in fact controlled the so-called “Project Diversion” investigation — which included the prosecution of Crime Intelligence official Dineo Mokwele — from its inception, despite Johnson previously suggesting Ramsamy had simply been assigned to the matter.
Ramsamy went further, telling the commission it had been easy within IDAC to manipulate statements, choose suspects, and decide who would testify and what they would say, because the unit lacked internal checks and balances. She accused Johnson of “dancing to the tune” of Perumal, saying decisions made in the morning would be reversed later in the day after Johnson consulted him. She also alleged that Johnson and Perumal had launched what she called an “orchestrated attack” on national police commissioner General Fannie Masemola and Crime Intelligence head Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo using IDAC’s investigative powers.
Among the most striking moments was the playing of a secretly recorded phone call, allegedly between Johnson and Ramsamy, dated 22 July — during Johnson’s own testimony. In the recording, a voice purportedly belonging to Johnson can be heard describing the commission in vulgar terms and appearing to advise Ramsamy to leave the country rather than testify if summoned: “If they call you, you leave the country.” Ramsamy told the commission she recorded the call because she no longer trusted Johnson, believing she had repeatedly been “thrown under the bus” during Johnson’s testimony.
None of these allegations have been tested, and those named are entitled to a presumption of innocence.
Build-up: a week of turmoil at IDAC
Thursday’s developments cap a turbulent fortnight for the anti-corruption unit. On Monday, two other members of Perumal’s investigative team — Advocate Drushanta Ramsamy and investigator Mantsha Raphesu — had already told the commission they disputed the authenticity of witness statements Perumal submitted in relation to a complaint by MP Fadiel Adams, producing recorded voice notes that, they said, did not match the version of events Perumal put forward.
Bellochun, separately, had been the subject of testimony by a protected witness known as Witness N, an investigator with the Political Killings Task Team, who alleged he extorted cash payments from undocumented Pakistani and Bangladeshi shopkeepers by exploiting their fear of deportation, and that he attempted to question a jailed police sergeant without legal representation present in a bid to implicate senior police officials. Johnson told the commission on Wednesday that Bellochun had already been served with a notice of intention to suspend him as a result of her escalating Witness N’s evidence to the IDAC Oversight Judge.
Padayachee, for his part, had spent recent weeks fielding questions over his role in the arrest of Khumalo and other Crime Intelligence officers, as well as allegations of unlawful surveillance. He has denied claims made by an MK Party MP of an “Indian cabal” linking himself, Johnson, Bellochun and a suspended Crime Intelligence deputy head, saying: “If such a cabal exists, I am not a party to it.” Perumal, meanwhile, was hospitalised for a period last weekend and has had a criminal complaint lodged against him by Adams, who accuses him of improperly sharing sensitive information.
What happens next
With Perumal, Padayachee and Bellochun now suspended pending internal disciplinary action, attention at the commission is expected to turn to what Ramsamy’s testimony means for Johnson, who resigned from IDAC amid the fallout and whose resignation was accepted by President Cyril Ramaphosa. The Madlanga Commission, chaired by retired Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, continues its inquiry into allegations of political interference and corruption within South Africa’s police and prosecutorial structures.
This article reports allegations made in sworn testimony before a commission of inquiry. No findings of guilt or wrongdoing have been made against any individual named above, and all are presumed innocent unless and until such findings are made.
