OPEN SESAME: Feroz Khan’s confiscated devices now accessible to Madlanga Commission investigators

Beleaguered senior Crime Intelligence boss Major-General Feroz Khan has been summoned to appear at the Madlanga Commission in July and has given investigators access to state-owned electronic devices that were in his possession and confiscated during a raid on his Houghton apartment on 11 May.

Suspended Deputy Crime Intelligence head Feroz Khan has abandoned his cases against the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry and the South African Police Service (SAPS) to block access to his electronic devices, and a court order to this effect is expected imminently.

This comes after tense behind-the-scenes negotiations at the weekend when the commission learned that Khan had “secretly” approached the Gauteng High Court in a bid to hold proceedings in camera and to deny public access to any of the inquiry’s affidavits.

On Monday, Khan abandoned this application for proceedings to be held in camera and also his initial urgent application against the Madlanga Commission regarding his devices. He was served immediately with a notice to appear to testify on 1 July.

The commission issued a statement explaining that following a case management meeting before Acting Deputy Judge President Roland Sutherland and Justice Lebogang Modiba, the withdrawal of both Khan’s applications was agreed to and will be embodied in a court order.

The commission undertook to make its affidavits public as soon as this order is issued. The move could enable the specialised investigative team to unlock information regarding alleged criminal infiltration and political interference in SAPS and the criminal justice system.

Khan’s name has cropped up multiple times at the Madlanga Commission, which is investigating claims of criminality, political interference and corruption in the criminal justice system, and has been extended to August 2026.

The senior cop with connections in the tobacco industry and politics initially objected to the handing over of the devices to the commission after his arrest, claiming this had been illegal and could lead to “assassinations”, place lives at risk, or expose intelligence agents and operatives.

Khan has been closely linked to Mohammadh Sayed, co-founder of the tobacco company Carnilinx. In 2023, he was snapped at an Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) fundraiser where a more than R100,000 ticket bought him a place next to Sayed and his associate, alleged cigarette smuggler Adriano Mazzotti.

Sayed purchased the ticket for Khan. Mazzotti and Sayed have repeatedly denied cigarette smuggling allegations.

Testifying at the final session of Parliament’s ad-hoc inqui