By Johnathan Paoli
Detective sergeant and Political Killings Task Team (PKTT) member, Witness N, has alleged that Investigating Directorate against Corruption (IDAC) investigator Suneel Bellochun extorted undocumented Pakistani and Bangladeshi foreign nationals, ran an unlawful money-lending operation and issued death threats.
Testifying partially in camera before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry on Friday afternoon, Witness N said she received detailed complaints from foreign national small businessmen in the Eastern Cape alleging possible extortion by Bellochun.
“Mr Muhammad fears for his life as Mr Bellochun regularly demands money from him, and he has received WhatsApp text from Mr Bellochun to pay his money back, or else he will kill him,” Witness N said.
“I understood this to be some kind of protection fee that Mr Bellochun was extorting from the individual. It stems from the provided bank statement from the victim which depicts regular payments weekly, or two days apart, of exorbitant amounts,” she added.
Witness N testified that she was contacted in December 2025 by Neil Naidoo, former Director of Community Safety in the Eastern Cape, after Pakistani shop owners reported alleged extortion by a law enforcement official.
She told the commission that Muhammad alleged that Bellochun had demanded regular payments from him over many years.
According to Witness N, Muhammad alleged that Bellochun assaulted him, acted as his landlord and repeatedly threatened him after criminal charges were laid against him.
“Mohamed opened a case against Bellochun, and later Bellochun threatened him that ‘his police’ will deal with him,” Witness N said.
She confirmed that the case against Bellochun “went nowhere”, and referred to WhatsApp messages allegedly supplied by Muhammad as evidence.
Reading one of the alleged messages into the record, she said: “The message by Suneel Bellochun… says ‘my people are looking for you’.”
The detective told the commission that Muhammad alleged Bellochun had exploited undocumented foreign nationals over an extended period through high-interest loans and demands for regular payments.
She further testified that the relationship appeared to amount to either unlawful money lending or outright extortion.
Questioned about the financial arrangements, Witness N said the transactions reflected a significant discrepancy between the amounts allegedly borrowed and the sums ultimately paid back.
She also testified that several other foreign nationals had allegedly lodged similar complaints.
As part of her evidence, Witness N referred to a 2014 Daily Dispatch article reporting Bellochun’s arrest during a Hawks sting operation for allegedly soliciting R30,000 from a spaza shop owner.
She stressed, however, that the newspaper article did not form part of her formal statement and was mentioned only in response to questions about the existence of previous allegations.
The witness further told the commission that another fraud and corruption case had allegedly been opened against Bellochun at Pretoria West police station in 2021, and that she understood a warrant had been issued before his subsequent appointment to IDAC.
Witness N also referred to a supporting statement from an unnamed Bangladeshi national, who alleged that Bellochun had lent him R20,000 at what he described as exorbitant weekly interest rates before demanding his Chevrolet Captiva as security.
According to the statement, when he was unable to repay the loan, Bellochun refused to allow him to sell the vehicle himself, insisting that he would find the buyer and retain the proceeds.
“I told him I was not fine with it as I was going to suffer a huge loss but I did not want to fight with him so I should just sign and let him as he pleases,” the complainant stated.
Earlier in the day, the commission heard evidence from Witness O, a Crime Intelligence colonel, whose testimony centred on IDAC head Andrea Johnson’s handling of a complaint involving suspended Gauteng Crime Intelligence deputy head Major-General Feroz Khan.
The colonel testified that Johnson instructed her to forward an email containing a complaint against Khan directly to him and then delete the email.
She refused and kept an electronic copy.
Witness O recalled that on the day of the alleged assault involving Brigadier Leonara Phetle, Khan remarked that he had “put Brigadier Phetle in her place”, although she added that such conduct was out of character because she had never known him to be someone who got into fights.
She further testified that Phetle ultimately resigned and that the assault complaint was never pursued.
The colonel also told the commission that Johnson’s husband had worked in Crime Intelligence and had developed a close professional relationship with Khan, adding that Johnson and her husband attended Khan’s 50th birthday celebration.
Witness O affirmed the earlier testimony of earlier witnesses, retired Hawks Colonel Kobus Roelofse and Captain Mark McLean regarding the handling of complaints involving Khan, reinforcing their accounts before the commission as it continues examining allegations of corruption and interference within IDAC.
Proceedings concluded for the day, with the commission to continue on Monday morning.
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