By Johnathan Paoli
Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) head Advocate Andrea Johnson has denied allegations that she was part of a so-called “Khan-IDAC cabal”, telling the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry that her relationship with suspended Gauteng Crime Intelligence deputy head Major-General Feroz Khan deteriorated after an emotional meeting with the son of slain insolvency practitioner Cloete Murray.
Testifying before the commission on Tuesday, Johnson rejected claims that she had a close personal relationship with Khan or shared confidential information with him. While acknowledging they had communicated outside official duties, she said their relationship changed after liquidator James Murray approached her about the investigation into the murders of his father, Cloete, and brother, Thomas.
“It is only late in 2024 when this issue of Mr James Murray arose because Mr Murray came to see me personally. It had been a very painful engagement and it was then that I raised the issue with him [Khan] and I slowly started to withdraw. I didn’t stop talking to him completely, but if I have to cast my mind back, that’s why I say the past year and a half, which would have been from very early 2025,” Johnson told the commission.
Cloete Murray, a prominent insolvency practitioner involved in several state capture and corruption-related matters, and his son Thomas were ambushed and shot on the N1 near Midrand on 18 March 2023 while travelling to Pretoria.
More than three years later, no arrests have been made.
The investigation has since been restarted amid allegations of police failures and concerns over the handling of key evidence.
Burnett Hermanus, also known as “Mr B” and regarded by investigators as the alleged gunman in the murders, was himself shot dead in the parking area of Netcare Milpark Hospital in 2025.
Khan, together with former Organised Crime head Major-General Richard Shiburi and suspended Deputy National Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Shadrack Sibiya, has been linked to Hermanus in testimony before the commission.
Reading from her affidavit, Johnson said meeting James Murray fundamentally changed how she viewed the allegations surrounding the investigation.
“I got to engage a victim who’s lost his father and his brother in a very violent way. It is very difficult, Commissioners, when you are sitting with a child who is now parentless and brotherless. He is raw of emotion sitting in front of you. But it’s not just the emotion, it is the complaint about the police not doing their work,” she said.
She said the encounter made the allegations personal.
“It touched me in a different way, in a very humane way, and it made what he was saying more real. I wasn’t reading this in papers. I wasn’t hearing stories. I was hearing this from a child. There is no way when you have that engagement that you are able to just shut it down. It had an impact.”
Johnson clarified that while her relationship with Khan extended beyond official meetings before she became Investigating Director in March 2022, it was never as close as alleged.
“Personally or otherwise, I had gotten to know him quite well. At a stage we engaged often on all kinds of issues that didn’t necessarily relate to work. He was very affable and I got along with him, so I would talk to him as well outside of meetings. It wasn’t confined to meetings,” she said.
However, she stressed that they did not socialise regularly.
“So I would chat on WhatsApp or we would talk to one another if we saw one another, but we didn’t socialise in the word ‘socialise’. We didn’t go to lunch, visit one another, etc.”
Responding to questions from Commissioner Sesi Baloyi, Johnson confirmed that she and her husband attended one of Khan’s birthday dinners around 2019 or 2020 after receiving an invitation.
“We probably were the most ungracious guests because it was very busy. As soon as we had had dinner, I said to my husband, ‘Can we leave?’ We didn’t even greet the host. We had left, but we did attend it,” she said.
The commission also questioned Johnson about allegations that she disclosed a South African Police Service investigation docket involving Khan.
Johnson dismissed the claims, saying they were unsupported by any particulars.
“No particulars have been provided as to who made the allegation, which docket is implicated, when or where the alleged disclosure occurred, how the docket was allegedly disclosed, or what information was allegedly conveyed,” she said.
Earlier in her testimony, Johnson firmly rejected evidence by uMkhonto weSizwe Party MP Vusi “Tulani” Shongwe that alleged the existence of a “Khan-IDAC cabal”.
“It follows that if such a cabal exists, I am not party to it. I have not authorised, encouraged or facilitated its existence, nor have I benefited from any unlawful association involving Gen Khan, IDAC, SAPS officials or any other person. To the extent that Mr Tulani Shongwe’s evidence suggests otherwise, I deny that suggestion,” she said.
The Madlanga Commission continues hearing evidence.
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