Jaw-dropping moments that kept Madlanga commission light and entertaining

The Madlanga commission has not proceeded without scandalous and jaw-dropping moments that have at times given the commissioners something to chuckle about.

• One jaw-dropping moment came about when SABC reporter Natasha Phiri’s name was mentioned during the testimony of Sgt Fannie Nkosi. The commission heard that Nkosi had contacted Phiri to get contact details of celebrity basher Musa Khawula and paid her R500 for her efforts. Making matters even worse was the shock on Nkosi’s face when the commission showed him a view-once picture that the two shared.
• Calvin Rafadi, a forensic investigator and former research associate at the University of Johannesburg, sent Cat Matlala a desperate message asking for his help. The message read: “Please help ka rent so I focus”. It is understood that Matlala paid Rafadi for media and propaganda services.
• During a heated interrogation, suspended deputy commissioner Shadrack Sibiya told the commission: “Chair, I’m looking at a chair now. When you have a chicken or a goat and you want it to enter into this door, and you push it and it tries to go and you bring it here... now commissioner [Sesi] Baloyi puts a fact, and as I try to respond, she says, “No, no...” She actually wants me to enter through that one door, and it’s a problem for me. Don’t overwhelm me.”
• In a similar event, suspended Ekurhuleni metro police boss Julius Mkhwanazi caused a spectacle when he wiped the sweat off his face with a tissue. However, bits of the tissue remained stuck on his forehead as he carried on testifying. The commissioners had to alert him to the mishap. The incident generated memes on social media.
• Brig Rachel Matjeng testified that all the expensive gifts, cash, and financial favours she had received from Vusi “Cat” Matlala had been purely “romantic gestures” from her boyfriend. She rejected claims that Matlala had blessed her with a BBL (Brazilian Butt Lift) procedure, an allegation she would further deny at the ad hoc committee, where she also struck a rather delicate pose to prove she had not done any procedure on her buttocks.