Brown Mogotsi appeared before the Madlanga Commission on Tuesday, delivering hours of testimony that introduced a range of untested allegations involving senior police officials, political leaders and alleged criminal networks.
His appearance marks the start of his Phase Two testimony, where those implicated earlier in the inquiry respond to evidence presented against them.
Mogotsi began by claiming that the late ambassador to France, Nathi Mthethwa, intended to testify about suspicions that KwaZulu Natal Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi was working with the United States Central Intelligence Agency.
Mogotsi told the commission that the concerns allegedly emerged during discussions about coal interests linked to Richards Bay.
Commission chairperson Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga asked Mogotsi to detail the basis for the claim.
Mogotsi said his sources had spoken to individuals abroad and that Mkhwanazi had referred to American training in past conversations.
He extended the allegation to Zulu King Misuzulu kaZwelithini, stating that both figures had been “activated” as sources by foreign interests.
Mogotsi also said Mthethwa told him in 2024 that he shared similar suspicions and allegedly sent him to Kenya to verify the claims.
Evidence leader Advocate Matthew Chaskalson later told the commission there was no record of Mthethwa communicating any intention to testify before his death in Paris in October.
The testimony then shifted to the cancelled R360 million police health tender awarded to Medicare 24 Tshwane District, a company linked to alleged crime figure Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala.
Mogotsi said he understood former police minister Bheki Cele had “interests” in the tender and that Matlala had previously been identified in Crime Intelligence briefings under the name “John Wick”.
He said Matlala told him that senior police figures had demanded millions of rand.
He described a meeting he monitored in Durban earlier this year where Matlala believed he was meeting someone who could resolve concerns about the tender.
Mogotsi said that after Mkhwanazi’s July press briefing, Matlala phoned him from prison and claimed that the person he met was Mkhwanazi.
Mogotsi maintained that his interactions with Matlala were part of efforts to assist investigations, telling the commission he had worked as an informant and later as a contact agent for Crime Intelligence during the 1990s and 2000s.
The commission will continue to test Mogotsi’s evidence as Phase Two proceeds, with further witnesses expected to respond to allegations made during earlier sessions.
