{"id":88,"date":"2026-07-28T13:57:35","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T13:57:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insideoutnews.co.za\/?p=88"},"modified":"2026-07-28T13:57:37","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T13:57:37","slug":"can-the-madlanga-commission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insideoutnews.co.za\/?p=88","title":{"rendered":"Can the Madlanga Commission Obtain Outstanding Documents After Andrea Johnson’s Resignation?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Mathipa Phishego<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(InsideOutNews)<\/a><\/strong> Questions have emerged over whether the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry can obtain outstanding documents after former Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) Head, Advocate Andrea Johnson, informed the commission that she is unable to submit some of the requested records following her resignation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johnson<\/a> made the remarks while testifying before the commission in Pretoria, explaining that her departure from the National Prosecuting Authority’s anti-corruption unit has affected her ability to provide certain documents requested by the inquiry. Her statement has raised legal questions about whether the commission must rely solely on the former IDAC head to produce the records or whether it has the authority to obtain them independently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Madlanga
Madlanga Commission of Inquiry.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Commission Has Investigative Powers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Commissions of inquiry established under South African law generally have extensive investigative powers, including the authority to summon witnesses, subpoena documents and require individuals or institutions to produce records relevant to their investigations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This means that if the outstanding documents remain important to the commission’s work, the Madlanga Commission may be able to request or subpoena them directly from the institution that now has custody of the files, rather than relying exclusively on Johnson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Official records created during the course of an investigation typically remain the property of the institution where they were generated. In this instance, documents relating to IDAC investigations would ordinarily remain under the custody of the relevant state institution, even after the resignation of the official who previously oversaw them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Resignation Does Not End Accountability<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Legal experts have previously noted that a public official’s resignation does not necessarily prevent a commission of inquiry from requiring that individual to testify or assist in an ongoing investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johnson’s continued appearance before the Madlanga Commission illustrates that former office bearers may still be called upon to account for decisions made during their tenure, even after leaving office. However, where documents are no longer in a witness’s possession or control, commissions often have alternative legal mechanisms available to secure the necessary evidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several Options Available<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Should the commission determine that the outstanding documents are essential to its investigation. It could request the records from the institution currently responsible for them, issue subpoenas compelling the production of the documents, summon officials who now have custody of the files, or recall witnesses once the documents have been obtained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These powers are intended to ensure that commissions of inquiry are able to gather relevant evidence and fulfil their mandate without being dependent on a single witness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Commission Yet to Indicate Next Step<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Madlanga Commission has not yet indicated whether it intends to invoke any of these powers in relation to the outstanding documents identified by Johnson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The inquiry continues hearing evidence as it investigates matters within its mandate. Whether the commission will seek the records directly from the relevant institutions is expected to become clearer as proceedings continue. Outcome could determine whether the outstanding documents become part of the commission’s evidence and whether further witnesses will be required to testify about their contents.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Mathipa Phishego (InsideOutNews) Questions have emerged over whether the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry can obtain outstanding documents after former Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) Head, Advocate Andrea Johnson, informed the commission that she is unable to submit some of the requested records following her resignation. Johnson made the remarks while testifying before the commission […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":89,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[30,31,29,32,33],"class_list":["post-88","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-south-africa","tag-andrea-johnson","tag-idac","tag-madlanga-commission","tag-pktt","tag-resignation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insideoutnews.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insideoutnews.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insideoutnews.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insideoutnews.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insideoutnews.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=88"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insideoutnews.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":91,"href":"https:\/\/insideoutnews.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88\/revisions\/91"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insideoutnews.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/89"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insideoutnews.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=88"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insideoutnews.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=88"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insideoutnews.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=88"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}