By Staff Reporter  |  Pretoria  |  5 August 2026

IDAC state advocate Drushantha Ramsamy returned to the witness box at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry on Wednesday for the second day of her renewed testimony, delivering further evidence that places suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu at the centre of the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption’s (IDAC) controversial crime intelligence investigations.

Addressing her demeanour

Before diving into the substance of her evidence, Ramsamy used the start of proceedings on Tuesday to respond directly to social media commentary about her courtroom manner during her explosive testimony the previous week, where she was seen smiling and laughing at several points while recounting serious allegations against her former boss, ex-IDAC head Advocate Andrea Johnson.

Ramsamy told the commission she was not being “vindictive” and took no pleasure in Johnson’s downfall. She explained that she has reached a point emotionally where she would rather laugh or smile when confronted with difficult circumstances than break down in tears, saying she did not want to appear to be playing the victim. She asked the commission and colleagues watching from her office to understand that it has been a difficult period for her, and to forgive her if she smiled or laughed while discussing matters as serious as those before the inquiry.

Commission chairperson Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga reassured her that she had nothing to apologise for, noting that public commentary on witnesses is difficult to satisfy and that she had done nothing wrong.

Mchunu implicated in directing and shaping IDAC probes

Turning to the substance of her testimony, Ramsamy told the commission that Johnson had regularly met with Mchunu while IDAC was investigating senior Crime Intelligence officers, and that Johnson had frequently referenced these meetings when directing the investigative team. Ramsamy said what alerted her to the regularity of the meetings was Johnson telling the team that “the minister wants to clean up SAPS… Crime Intelligence specifically.”

She recounted that Johnson had described attending a meeting at Mchunu’s home in January 2025, alongside his then chief of staff, Cedrick Nkabinde, during which she left her cellphone with her protection officers before meeting the minister. Ramsamy further alleged that Mchunu and Johnson had initiated a report on Nkabinde intended to implicate him in a criminal investigation.

Ramsamy also testified that a key witness in the investigation into Crime Intelligence head Lieutenant General Dumisani Khumalo and other senior officers had been flown in from the Eastern Cape at Mchunu’s arrangement, to corroborate allegations made by National Coloured Congress MP Fadiel Adams against Khumalo and other Crime Intelligence leadership. She said Nkabinde had arranged for the witness to meet chief investigator Dylan Perumal to provide a statement, adding that she had found it strange that Mchunu would be so closely involved in an investigation, particularly since Perumal offered no further detail on the minister’s role when questioned about it.

This account elaborates on evidence given a day earlier, when the commission heard that Johnson had initially denied ever meeting Mchunu at all. Confronted with evidence to the contrary, Johnson later conceded that a single meeting had taken place but insisted nothing of substance was discussed there. Ramsamy’s testimony directly contradicts this version, telling the commission that Johnson had told IDAC staff she met Mchunu again during the third week of January 2025.

Evidence echoes Serunye’s testimony against Johnson

Ramsamy’s latest evidence builds on testimony delivered a day earlier by IDAC deputy head Advocate Peter Serunye, who told the commission on Tuesday that Johnson had lied when she claimed nobody in her office had raised concerns about the corruption cases against Crime Intelligence’s Brigadier Dineo Mokwele and former chief financial officer Philani Lushaba.

Serunye said Johnson’s version was contradicted by several emails he had sent her questioning the merits of both investigations, and that he had raised the same concerns on at least two or three separate occasions, including regarding the Lushaba matter. He testified that Johnson had been unimpressed when he questioned the direction the investigations were taking.

Ramsamy’s testimony corroborates Serunye’s account, with both witnesses now on record disputing Johnson’s claim that concerns about the Mokwele and Lushaba cases were never raised internally. Ramsamy told the commission Johnson’s version on this point was false and that objections had, in fact, been repeatedly recorded.

Background: an inquiry in turmoil

Ramsamy first appeared before the commission on 30 July, delivering testimony described by commentators as explosive. She accused Johnson of misrepresenting her own role in the investigations into Khumalo, Mokwele and others, and played a recording of a phone call in which Johnson appeared to advise her to leave the country if summoned to testify. Following that appearance, the commission indicated it was prepared to provide Ramsamy with security if a risk assessment showed it was necessary.

Johnson resigned as IDAC head following her own difficult testimony before the commission, though she remains required to give further evidence in response to the allegations raised by Ramsamy, Serunye and senior investigator Mantsha Raphesu. A parliamentary ad hoc committee is separately weighing whether Johnson should face criminal charges over discrepancies between what she told Parliament and her later testimony to the commission.

The Madlanga Commission of Inquiry into Criminality, Political Interference and Corruption in the Criminal Justice System, chaired by Constitutional Court Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, continues to sit this week with further evidence expected on the workings of IDAC and its handling of the Crime Intelligence prosecutions.