By Johnathan Paoli
The Madlanga Commission has postponed the testimony of Witness F to 16 March, the final scheduled day of its hearings, after being informed that the witness has been hospitalised and is medically unfit to appear.
The postponement was confirmed on Monday morning following submissions by evidence leader Advocate Matthew Chaskalson, who told chairperson Mbuyiseli Madlanga and fellow commissioners that Witness F was unavailable due to health reasons.
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“Chair and commissioners, Witness F has been hospitalised and is not available today. There is an application for postponement,” Chaskalson said.
He explained that the medical certificate attached to the application indicated that Witness F would not be available “at least until 25th February”.
Chaskalson told the commission that the legal teams had reviewed their calendars and that the earliest available date after 25 February would be 16 March.
“Now, as things stand, 16th March is the last day of the commission, but it is the best that we can do at this stage. So we would ask for that postponement to be pegged to 16th March,” he said.
He added that while Witness F had initially sought an open-ended postponement, the commission was being asked to formally fix the appearance date as 16 March to avoid further uncertainty.
Addressing the witness’s legal team, Madlanga asked whether they were agreeable to the proposed postponement.
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Advocate Hatley Ngoato, representing Witness F, confirmed that they supported the request.
Madlanga subsequently ruled that the hearing of Witness F’s testimony would be postponed to 16 March, starting at 9.30am.
He added that because Witness F had been scheduled to testify on both Monday and Tuesday, the commission would now have no hearings on Tuesday.
The delay comes after Witness F last week abandoned legal efforts aimed at preventing or delaying their appearance before the commission.
The witness had been due to testify over two days, and their evidence was expected to be central to aspects of the commission’s work.
Monday’s postponement places additional weight on the final day of hearings, which will now include Witness F’s long-anticipated testimony, provided the witness is medically cleared to appear.
Chaskalson acknowledged the timing challenges but told the commission that, under the circumstances, the proposed date was unavoidable.
The commission is expected to continue with other scheduled witnesses.
