Padayachee defends IDAC appointment, but reveals personal ties to Mkhwanazi and the generals he investigated
Brian Padayachee, a senior investigator at the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC), told the Madlanga Commission on Day 139 that allegations he was unqualified for his post are baseless. He also disclosed a cordial relationship with Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, including advance knowledge shared before an arrest, and described personal friendships and a mentorship with several of the generals implicated in the Crime Intelligence corruption case he investigated. Commissioners pressed him on confusing testimony about his exact role in that investigation.
Brian Padayachee, senior investigator at IDAC, appeared before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry in Pretoria on Tuesday to respond to allegations made by KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, who told the commission Padayachee had been appointed to a senior IDAC position without the requisite skills, experience or qualifications.
Qualifications
Padayachee rejected the allegation outright, calling it “void, empty and bereft of a factual foundation.” He told the commission he has served in South African law enforcement for 44 years, including 38 years and 6 months in the South African Police Service. He was headhunted into IDAC in October 2021 by then investigating director Advocate Hermione Cronje, and was permanently appointed in February 2025.
He submitted a series of certificates in support of his testimony, including a 1992 diploma in police administration, a national certificate and national higher certificate in policing, a detective course he topped as the best student in his class, and certificates from investigative courses in the United States and France.
The relationship with Mkhwanazi
The more significant testimony came when Padayachee addressed why Mkhwanazi had not disclosed, in his own evidence to the commission, that the two men already knew each other.
Padayachee said he had prior telephonic contact with Mkhwanazi before Mkhwanazi’s July 2025 press briefing, which triggered the establishment of the commission. He said he had interviewed Mkhwanazi and obtained a signed affidavit from him relating to a separate, ongoing crime intelligence investigation, the contents of which he declined to disclose.
To support this, Padayachee produced WhatsApp message screenshots exchanged with Mkhwanazi, which he said showed a cordial and long-standing working relationship. Commissioner Advocate Sandile Khumalo SC described the messages as largely neutral in content, prompting Padayachee to point to the tone of the greetings exchanged, including an Easter message, and to describe meeting Mkhwanazi both outside his office and later at his home.
Padayachee testified that during one of these meetings, he told Mkhwanazi that Lieutenant General Dumisani Khumalo, the Crime Intelligence divisional commissioner, was about to be arrested, and that Mkhwanazi was already aware that further arrests of senior officers were coming. According to Padayachee, Mkhwanazi’s response was that those involved “must face their own situations,” and that Mkhwanazi showed no signs of anger or concern.
Relationships with the accused
Padayachee also told the commission he has long-standing personal relationships with several of the officers charged alongside Khumalo in the case concerning the appointment of Brigadier Dineo Mokwele to a senior Crime Intelligence post.
He said he has known Khumalo since 2006, when Khumalo was a newly promoted captain, and described him as a friend. He said he mentored Major General Nozipho Madondo since the 2000s, watching her progress through the ranks, and has had a long working relationship with Major General Josias Lekalakala since the same period.
Padayachee told the commission that after the arrests, he approached each of the accused at their court appearances to greet them, at one point placing his hand on Madondo’s shoulder to offer support, before their legal representatives asked him to stop.
He maintained that these relationships showed there was no malice behind the investigation, describing the arrests as professionally difficult given his personal history with those involved.
Docket carrier or lead investigator
Under cross-examination on the Mokwele appointment case, Padayachee repeatedly described his role as “docket carrier” rather than “lead investigator,” prompting sustained questioning from commissioners Advocate Sesi Baloyi SC and Advocate Sandile Khumalo SC over the distinction.
Padayachee explained that he reports to a chief criminal investigator, Dylan Perumal, within the investigating team. Commissioner Khumalo told Padayachee his testimony on the point had been contradictory, and that it gave the impression he was attempting to distance himself from responsibility for the docket. Padayachee ultimately agreed the commission should treat “lead investigator” and “docket carrier” as one and the same in his case.
Padayachee’s testimony continues.
