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By Palesa Matlala
- Businessman Suliman Carrim remains in a medical facility outside Gauteng and is unlikely to testify before the Madlanga Commission on Wednesday.
- Advocate Andrea Johnson became the ninth witness delayed on medical grounds, prompting Justice Madlanga to again call certificates “useless.”
The Madlanga Commission could face another delay after businessman Suliman Carrim was reportedly ruled unfit to testify once again.
Scrolla.Africa understands Carrim is still receiving medical treatment at a facility outside Gauteng.
His legal team is expected to submit another medical report asking for his appearance, set for Wednesday, to be postponed. Carrim has already missed previous hearings for health reasons, and the commission has warned it may recommend he face prosecution under the Commissions Act if he refuses an independent medical examination it has ordered.
His expected absence comes days after Investigating Directorate Against Corruption head Advocate Andrea Johnson also failed to testify, becoming the ninth witness this year to have testimony delayed on medical grounds.
Johnson was due to appear on Monday, but her lawyers told the commission she was too ill, and could not disclose her illness because it was confidential. Her testimony has now been postponed indefinitely.
Johnson’s evidence matters because several witnesses have accused her of interfering in an assault and intimidation case opened against Crime Intelligence deputy head Major General Feroz Khan in 2018, while she was a senior prosecutor. Johnson denies wrongdoing.
Commission chairperson Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga openly criticised the medical certificate submitted for Johnson.
“I have previously said these medical certificates are useless because they provide no information whatsoever,” he said, questioning whether it gave the commission enough to justify postponing such an important witness.
Khan himself remains absent from proceedings for a different reason. He was shot outside his Houghton home on 28 June, days before he was due to testify, and his lawyers say he remains sedated and unable to give instructions on his evidence.
Other witnesses whose testimony has been delayed on medical grounds this year include Medicare24 chief executive Mike van Wyk and political activist Brown Mogotsi.
The repeated postponements have drawn widespread mockery on social media, with South Africans joking about a fictional “Madlanga Ward” where key witnesses suddenly fall ill before they are due to testify. Former EFF MP Mbuyiseni Ndlozi and ActionSA MP Dereleen James were among those who joined in.
The commission has said it takes every medical claim seriously, but has warned that certificates must contain enough detail to justify a postponement.
Pictured above: Businessman Suliman Carrim is expected to miss another appearance before the Madlanga Commission because of medical reasons.
Image source: File
