By Marcus Moloko
Security expert Mike Bolhuis has dismissed ANC fixer and businessman Brown Mogotsi’s day-one testimony at the Madlanga Commission as “total nonsense” with no factual basis, while IRS Forensic Investigations CEO Chad Thomas labelled Mogotsi an “information peddler” whose role as a police informant remains unclear.
Bolhuis spoke during an interview on Wednesday morning on SABC, providing insight into Mogotsi’s first day at the commission.
He maintained that Mogotsi’s testimony lacked facts and “sounded too good to be true.”
“[It]…sounds too good to be true, [he] states he’s a double agent, smiles and laughs about extremely serious matters. He is, in my eyes, an absolute criminal,” said Bolhuis, who called for Mogotsi’s arrest for incriminating people without evidence.
Mogotsi’s claims implicated senior officials, including Vusimuzi Cat Matlala, Zulu King Misuzulu KaZwelithini, and KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, alleging they were working for the CIA.
Long associated with allegations of meddling in police affairs, Mogotsi took the stand and made sensational accusations that have since been widely discredited.
He claimed to have operated as an undercover agent for crime intelligence, positioning himself as a conduit for sensitive information.
Among his allegations, he suggested that senior political figures, including Police Minister Senzo Mchunu, had received millions from Matlala.
Mogotsi’s testimony contained inconsistencies and sensational claims on the first day, at times forcing the commission to adjourn.
For example, he said there was no such thing as the “Big 5” or drug cartels, adding that Mkhwanazi and Khumalo were using “a method of misdirection” because Mkhwanazi was angered by the arrest of General Dumisani Khumalo.
“Towards the end of August 2025, I contacted the former Minister of Police, Nathi Mthethwa. I wanted to understand why Lt-General Mkhwanazi was removed as Acting National Commissioner of Police in 2012. I spoke to Mthethwa regarding my concerns that Lt-Gen Mkhwanazi was a CIA operative, according to information I received from my source. Mthethwa said he shared my suspicion,” he said.
“In order to confirm this, he said I needed to travel to Kenya to meet with a contact who was aware of CIA operations in South Africa,” Mogotsi added.
He then said he travelled to Nairobi on 10 September 2025 and returned to South Africa on 12 September, where he met a man who introduced himself only as “George.”
Bolhuis argued that Mogotsi’s narrative fits a pattern of information manipulation.
Adding weight to Bolhuis’s critique, Thomas stressed that it remained unclear whether Mogotsi was genuinely a police informant and warned that his testimony risked fueling conspiracy theories around state security.
Former EFF member and radio presenter Mbuyiseni Ndlozi also questioned Mogotsi’s credentials.
“There are questions counsel must probe,” Ndlozi said.
While Mogotsi claimed he was part of the ANC self-defense unit around Mahikeng, he asked, “Who was the commander?”
Mogotsi’s name has repeatedly surfaced in connection with cartel-linked figures and allegations of interference in police operations.
His testimony comes weeks after he survived an alleged assassination attempt in Vosloorus, Ekurhuleni, when his vehicle was sprayed with bullets.
With Mogotsi resuming his testimony on Wednesday, the credibility of his claims remains under intense scrutiny.
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