The Madlanga Commission of Inquiry is on Tuesday hearing evidence from the first of its anonymous witnesses.
Witness X has been sworn in and is testifying remotely, off-camera, with the help of an intermediary.
The witness is presenting testimony which ties in with parts of the testimony presented by crime intelligence head Lt-Gen Dumisani Khumalo on the alleged beneficial relationship between KwaZulu-Natal Hawks head Maj-Gen Lesetja Sesona, his son and security company owner Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala, who is accused of being a criminal mastermind.
Khumalo’s testimony was halted when he fell ill and couldn’t continue.
On Tuesday, Witness X, referring to WhatsApp chats, told the commission he would present chats which purportedly show their beneficial relationship and Sesona’s interest in protecting Matlala.
The agreement on the witness testifying off-camera and without being publicly named was reached between the commission and two media houses.
This follows an application brought by the media houses opposing the proposed closed nature of the hearings.
The commission is investigating allegations of criminality, corruption and political interference in the criminal justice system.
According to the agreement reached between the parties for the witness who will testify on Tuesday and Wednesday, the witness has been set up to testify remotely and off-camera to protect their identity.
According to the commission, no-one will see the witness or hear the witness’ voice, as the commission will use one of the evidence leaders to listen to the testimony on headphones and relay what they say.
However, the exhibits the witness refers to will be displayed on the screen and on the live feed, and the statement the witness refers to in the evidence will be displayed and made available after the testimony as transcripts.
The same arrangement will apply to another witness expected to testify next week.
The commission said the evidence of the remaining two in-camera witnesses to be called between Monday and Wednesday will be heard remotely and off-camera.
The witnesses will not testify through intermediaries, and their answers to questions of the evidence leaders will be broadcast live.
“The witness’ anonymised statement with exhibits will be displayed live on screen as the witness testifies,” said the commission.
The parties will attempt to settle their dispute in respect of the witness who will testify on Thursday and Friday on matters which relate to ongoing criminal investigations.
The commission said if the parties are unable to settle their dispute, the evidence leaders will file their reply to the answering affidavit of News 24 and Daily Maverick on or before 1pm on Wednesday, with any written submissions they would want the commission to consider.
News 24 and Daily Maverick will file any submissions on their application on or before 3pm next week on Wednesday, October 22.
The commission said it will then hand down its ruling on the in-camera application at the start of proceedings, next week on Thursday.
Also, the commission said apart from the witnesses to which the ruling refers, the evidence leaders will not seek to lead any other witness in-camera without making a new application to the commission and making that application publicly known at least 72 hours before the witness is called to testify.
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