By Johnathan Paoli
Testimony before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry suggested that businessman Ze Nxumalo was effectively allowed to take charge of the police pursuit of controversial blogger Musa Khawula, with Sergeant Fannie Nkosi acknowledging that the complainant repeatedly supplied information, operational leads, and even event tickets used in an attempted arrest operation.
Appearing before the commission on Monday, Nkosi confirmed that Nxumalo had provided him with a wide range of information about Khawula, including contact details, profiling reports, and the blogger’s arrest warrant on the same day it was issued by a court.
“It was the first time I experienced a complainant having a warrant of arrest,” Nkosi said.
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The exchanges formed part of a cross-examination by evidence leader and advocate Matthew Chaskalson, who questioned why Nxumalo appeared to play such a central role in the investigation against Khawula, despite not being a police officer.
During the hearing, Nkosi confirmed that Nxumalo had repeatedly sent him information related to Khawula’s movements and communications.
On 17 October 2024, Nxumalo sent Nkosi Khawula’s contact card, a profiling report, a consumer trace report, and documents containing his identity details and the address from which he worked.
Four days later, Nxumalo sent Nkosi a contact card for the investigating officer handling the case.
Most strikingly, Nxumalo also sent Nkosi a copy of Khawula’s arrest warrant on 21 October 2024, the same day it had been issued by the court.
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Nkosi acknowledged that while complainants sometimes obtained warrants through legal channels, it was unusual in his experience.
The commission also heard that Nxumalo appeared to push for action against Khawula in subsequent messages.
On 23 October 2024, he informed Nkosi that Khawula was “now in PMB [Pietermaritzburg]”.
The following month, he shared one of Khawula’s social media posts and asked Nkosi whether he was “scared” of the blogger.
Chaskalson argued that the communications suggested Nxumalo was actively driving the investigation.
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Nkosi rejected the suggestion that he had used police powers to gather information for the businessman, insisting that some details, including Khawula’s phone number, had been obtained informally from a contact he identified as “Natasha S.A.B.C Presenter”, whom he said he had known while studying at the Tshwane University of Technology.
Nkosi denied paying the alleged presenter for the number but hesitated before answering, prompting Chaskalson to say the chats would be examined further.
The inquiry also examined an aborted police operation to arrest Khawula at an event where he was expected to perform in Kroonstad in December 2024.
Nkosi confirmed that Nxumalo had purchased six tickets for the event, three VIP and three general admission, which were distributed to police officers planning to attend undercover.
According to Nkosi, the operation involved himself, a “Captain Zungu,” and four members of a tracking team.
“The operation was unsuccessful because he wasn’t there,” Nkosi said.
He admitted that the investigating officer in the case had not been given a ticket to enter the venue, despite being expected to participate in the arrest.
Pressed on how the officer would have gained access, Nkosi said police would have “made a plan”.
Commission chair Mbuyiseli Madlanga observed that there appeared to have been no clear plan to get the investigating officer into the venue.
Further concerns emerged when Nkosi confirmed that Nxumalo had later received a photograph of Khawula in custody and a copy of the arrest register after the blogger was detained.
Nkosi conceded that it would not have been lawful for such images to be shared with a complainant.
Commissioner Sesi Baloyi suggested that the communications gave the impression that Nxumalo had effectively taken over the investigation.
When pressed on why the police would allow a private individual to take such a role, Nkosi said he believed Nxumalo had been “desperate” because Khawula’s social media posts were affecting his life and marriage.
The commission also heard that Nkosi had shared contact details for the investigating officer and for suspended Deputy Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Shadrack Sibiya with Nxumalo following Khawula’s arrest.
Nkosi maintained that he had simply relayed information to organised crime investigators who ultimately reported to Sibiya, despite acknowledging that the cases against Khawula were not organised crime matters.
Khawula was arrested in January at a tavern in Dundee in KwaZulu-Natal following a tip-off and appeared in the Newcastle Magistrates’ Court a day later on a charge of contravening the Cybercrimes Act.
However, the NPA in the Western Cape previously confirmed that Khawula has not yet stood trial for the alleged murder of his former boyfriend in Vredenburg.
Prosecutors say a warrant for his arrest in that matter was authorised after he failed to appear in court in late 2025, but it has not yet been executed because he remains involved in several criminal proceedings in Gauteng.
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