Newly released Madlanga Commission court papers allege that Crime Intelligence boss Feroz Khan used his position to assist tobacco executive Mohammed "Mo" Sayed in pursuing lucrative government contracts, accessing sensitive procurement information and influencing key state officials.
Image: Itumeleng English / Independent Newspapers
On January 12, 2021, Mohammed "Mo" Sayed, an alleged tobacco smuggler, reached out to Feroz Khan, the head of South Africa's Crime Intelligence, via WhatsApp. In his message, Sayed inquired about the appropriate contacts to secure a lucrative contract for supplying branded face masks to the police.
Within an hour, Khan replied he was meeting "someone tomorrow night who is the possible guy to make it happen".
Minutes later, Sayed sent through his price list, and by that evening, Khan messaged back to say the samples had arrived.
In another incident, Sayed sent Khan photographs of a warehouse that he proposed leasing to the National Treasury.
The exchanges are contained in a sworn affidavit filed by the Madlanga Commission and released to the public after Khan withdrew his court application to keep the documents secret on Monday.
The Madlanga Commission, chaired by acting deputy chief justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, was appointed by Cyril Ramaphosa to investigate allegations of corruption, criminality, and political interference in the criminal justice system
Khan was arrested by SA’s elite crime-fighting unit the Hawks at his Houghton home in Johannesburg on May 10.
His iPhone 11 and a hard drive were seized during the operation.
In a lengthy affidavit seen by IOL, commission investigator Tshepo Nyatlo said WhatsApp chats had been extracted from the devices and catalogued in a detailed document supported by 29 annexures.
The 750-page document is linked to a summons for Khan, who is currently out on bail, to appear before the inquiry on July 1, where he will provide his side of the story.
"I am advised that Khan ought to have no involvement in SAPS procurement, or indeed in any other procurement within organs of state," Nyatlo said.
"However, he frequently tried to manipulate SAPS procurement and procurement in other organs of state for the benefit of himself and Sayed."
The mask scheme was allegedly not the only deal.
From June 12 2021, the chats, according to Nyatlo, showed Khan and Sayed attempting to cut themselves into an existing R280m IT contract between National Treasury and a technology company called Cyberia, as previously reported.
Cyberia held a government contract to roll out a financial management platform across public sector payrolls.
The commission must hand its final report to Ramaphosa by August 31 2026.
In closing his affidavit, Nyatlo said: "If Khan disputes any of these allegations, I invite him to do so under oath in his replying affidavit."