By Johnathan Paoli
Parliament has rejected suspended National Coloured Congress MP Fadiel Adams’ claim that problems with his parliamentary laptop contributed to a 10-month delay in submitting his witness statement to the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry.
Parliamentary spokesperson Moloto Mothapo said on Tuesday that records held by the institution’s ICT department showed no evidence of persistent problems with Adams’ laptop or other devices.
“The records do not reflect any reported incident of persistent laptop malfunction, hardware failure, repeated freezing of the device, or the laptop being repeatedly submitted to ICT for repairs,” Mothapo said.
The statement followed Adams’ appearance before the commission earlier on Tuesday, where chairperson Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga described his explanation for the delay as “totally unbelievable”.
Adams was first served with a Rule 3 notice in October 2025 requiring him to submit a witness statement.
He only submitted the statement after 9pm on Monday, less than 14 hours before he was due to testify, prompting the commission to postpone his evidence to 19 August.
Adams attributed the delay partly to problems with his Parliament-issued laptop.
“Parliament can confirm that I have a very problematic laptop. My laptop is either in for repairs or frozen,” Adams told the commission.
Madlanga questioned how Adams could perform his duties as an MP if he was unable to reliably access electronic communications.
Parliament said a review of ICT Service Desk records found only routine support requests linked to Adams during the relevant period.
These included a Windows password reset in January 2025, an ERP/Marang password reset in June 2025, assistance logging into a device in July 2025, a Wi-Fi update in January 2026 and an ERP/Marang eDisclosure-related request in June 2026.
Mothapo said password resets, authentication or login problems and connectivity configuration issues were “materially different” from a device being technically dysfunctional or unavailable for an extended period.
“Parliament therefore has no ICT Service Desk record supporting the assertion that Mr Adams’s parliamentary laptop was persistently dysfunctional for approximately 18 months in the manner described before the Commission,” he said.
Mothapo also said MPs were not dependent on a single device to perform their parliamentary duties.
“Members are provided with multiple ICT devices, including a laptop, tablet and smart phone, precisely to support continuity of access and enable Members to perform their parliamentary responsibilities,” he said.
He said established ICT support channels allowed technical problems to be logged, diagnosed and resolved, while alternative Parliament-issued devices could provide continued access when one device was being serviced.
The clarification came after Madlanga repeatedly questioned Adams about how he had managed to perform his parliamentary duties if his laptop had allegedly been unusable for much of the preceding 18 months.
Adams said he had often been forced to “walk to people for information or call up for information”.
His evidence is being closely watched because a 2024 Section 27 referral he made to the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption triggered investigations into allegations involving Crime Intelligence and the Secret Services Account.
The investigations later expanded to matters involving Brigadier Dineo Mokwele and Crime Intelligence chief financial officer Major-General Philani Lushaba, culminating in the arrest of suspended Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo and six others.
The charges were provisionally withdrawn by the National Prosecuting Authority on 27 July following representations, although the investigation remains open.
Mothapo stressed that Parliament’s statement was limited to its own administrative and ICT records and did not comment on the substance of Adams’ evidence before the commission.
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