The Madlanga Commission in a month of closed hearings
Public hearings stand adjourned. The lower courts do not.
The hearing stands adjourned. The finding is not yet the report.
“Do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly.” Micah 6:8
On 30 September 2026 the Madlanga Commission adjourned its public hearings. Mr Vusimuzi Matlala, subpoenaed on 25 September, could not secure representation in time. The Chairperson, Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, postponed that testimony to 14 December and recorded the Commission’s concern at the loss of sitting days.
The lower courts are not spectators. A statement made under commission regulations is not, without more, evidence in a criminal trial. A finding of a commission is not a conviction. The officer hearing a bail application or a plea applies the ordinary statute and the ordinary onus, and excludes what the rules of that court do not admit.
Parallel process is already visible. Internal discipline arising from the Commission is the subject of Labour Court litigation set down in October, and a related criminal matter has been before the Randburg Magistrate’s Court. This edition does not recite the allegations. It records that magistrates in those seats are adjudicating, not commenting, and that they are entitled to a secure courtroom, a complete docket, and freedom from public pressure to anticipate the report.
A request for a record, a subpoena, or an in-camera arrangement should be dealt with through the clerk, on the
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JASA · Judicial Officers Alliance of South Africa The Bench · Sixth Edition · October 2026
papers, and with notice to the parties affected. Informal transmission of a court file is not a courtesy. It is a breach of custody.
A note from Neelan Karikan. The Commission has been given time to finish its work. The district court continues on its own record. Both duties can be respected at once.