Colonel Roelofse

There was corridor talk about sharing a docket by Advocate Johnson with General Khan before it was publicly known.

“You refer to the sharing of documents. Are you talking about what Mr Roelofse, Mr McClean and Witness O said about the sharing of a docket by Advocate Johnson with General Khan? ... Correct, but at that time, before the testimony, it was just corridor gossip.”

Mr Matling, Mr Roelofse, and Witness O testified that Adv Johnson shared a docket implicating General Khan in an assault with General Khan, after which General Khan prepared his own statement to the police.

“M r M a t l i n g [ ? ] t e s t i f i e d , s o d i d M r R o e l o f s e a n d W i t n e s s O , a n d a l l o f t h e m t e s t i f i e d o n m a t t e r s r e l a t i n g t o y o u r s h a r i n g o f t h e d o c k e t i m p l i c a t i n g G e n e r a l K h a n i n a n a s s a u l t w i t h G e n e r a l K h a n , p u r s u a n t t o w h i c h G e n e r a l K h a n t h e n p r e p a r e d h i s o w n s t a t e m e n t t o t h e p o l i c e .”

In August 2022, the statement from Colonel Roelofse was received recounting events of 4 July 2018; at that time Advocate Johnson was head of IDAC where Captain McLean was attached to DPCI.

“In August of 2022, we received the statement from the Colonel, setting out events of 4 July 2018. At this stage, Advocate Johnson was the head of IDAC where I was placed, even though I was attached to the DPCI.”

Captain McLean was not personally involved and did not attend the meeting between Advocate Johnson and Colonel Roelofse with General Lebeya.

“I was not personally involved , I did not attend the meeting with Colonel Roelofse with General Lebeya , our Commissioners .”

Colonel Roelofse confirmed he was approached by Advocate Johnson and what transpired on that specific day.

“I can confirm that Colonel Roelofse was approached by Advocate Johnson and what transpired on that specific day .”

The CAS system is an administrative system to register case dockets; when an investigation ends or a case is closed (e.g. nolle prosequi), the docket is closed and archived but not deleted, leaving an audit trail.

“It actually should read closed , Commissioner . What we have , we have a CAS administration system , which is an administrations system for our dockets . So if the case docket is opened, it would be registered on the CAS system . So at the end of an investigation , whether it is unfounded , whether a warrant of arrest was issued , you will then close the docket and it will be closed on the CAS system , as in I think in this specific case , it was an olle prosequi , if I am not mistaken . So the docket would have been closed on the CAS system as an olle prosequi . But as I said , I do not have the docket in front of me , so I am not sure exactly as what it was closed . But then it would get archived . So that is in essence what happened . So there will not be any further queries on the administration system , bring forward dates and that kind of thing . But the docket will show that it has been archived , and you can go and find the docket there .”

The witness decided to approach National Head of the DPCI, Lieutenant General Lebeya, for assistance due to the circumstances he found himself in and informed him of the allegations contained in the Colonel's statement, requesting a senior prosecutor be assigned.

“I decided to approach the National Head of the DPCI, Lieutenant General Lebeya, for assistance, because of the circumstances that I found myself in. I met General Lebeya in the last week of August 022, but I do not recall the exact date. I informed him of the allegations contained in the Colonel 's statement and furnished him with a copy of the Colonel 's statement. I told General Lebeya that we needed the NPA to assign a senior prosecutor to the matter. I expected General Lebeya to request the NPA head, at the time, Advocate Shamila Batohi, for a senior prosecutor to be assigned to the case.”

Advocate Johnson was informed by Colonel Roelofse that Advocate Batohi had discussed a matter regarding a statement implicating Advocate Johnson in wrongdoing, and Batohi then revealed to Johnson that the Colonel had implicated her in wrongdoing, which caused disappointment in Johnson's conduct.

“On the 7th of September 2022 Colonel Roelofse told me that Advocate Johnson approached him at work and they had a brief meeting in the office. According to Colonel Roelofse Advocate Johnson told him that she saw Colonel's statement and mentioned the Colonel's name as well as the name of the officer who commissioned the Colonel's statement, Colonel Odendaal. He also told me that Advocate Batohi had discussed the matter with Advocate Johnson and showed her the Colonel's statement. In other words, Advocate Batohi now revealed to Advocate Johnson that the Colonel had implicated Advocate Johnson in wrongdoing. I was disappointed with Advocate Johnson's conduct.”

Advocate Batohi's conduct toward Advocate Johnson was similar to what Advocate Johnson had done for General Khan.

“In other words, Advocate Batohi is doing exactly the same as what Advocate Johnson did for General Khan. Colonel Roelofse, who told me that Advocate Johnson told him that she spoke to Mr Bateman before meeting him with Colonel Roelofse, and that told Barry Bateman not to worry.”

Advocate Johnson knowingly contravened her duties as a prosecutor by favouring General Khan, sending information to him to benefit from a complainant's statement and preparing his warning statement accordingly.

“Advocate Johnson clearly understood that what she did was a contravention of her duties as a prosecutor who must act without fear, favour and prejudice. In this instance she clearly intended to favour General Khan, so that he could have the benefit of the complainant's statement and the contents of the docket when he prepared his warning statement, which he submitted on the same day that Advocate Johnson sent the information to the Colonel.”

After Colonel Roelofse retired, Captain McLean was unable to secure a suitable prosecutor for the case because they had to wait for Advocate Batohi to vacate her post before approaching the NPA for a prosecutor due to past events in 2022 involving Colonel Roelofse and Advocate Johnson's conduct.

“After Colonel Roelofse retired I was unable to secure a suitable prosecutor for the case to progress insofar as Advocate Johnson is concerned. ... Commissioner, I had to wait for Advocate Batohi to vacate her post before I could approach the NPA again for a prosecutor. Because of what happened to us in 2022 when Colonel Roelofse approached Advocate, agh General Lebeya to approach Advocate Batohi and subsequent to that, Colonel or Advocate Johnson, then spoke to our witnesses.”

Advocate Johnson did not explain or justify forwarding the Colonel's affidavit to General Khan, stating only that she did not do anything wrong.

“she just said to me... 'I did not do anything wrong.'”

The Colonel has led many investigations into corruption by police officials in SAPS, particularly in Crime Intelligence, and is aware of the dangers in prematurely releasing witness names which could jeopardize investigations and the safety of witnesses.

“I have led many investigations into corruption by police officials within the SAPS, with a specific reference to Crime Intelligence... It puts the investigation into jeopardy, and more importantly, it has the potential to put the life of the witness in danger.”

Advocate Batohi never responded to appoint a prosecutor despite engagements by Colonel Roelofse with Advocate Batohi and General Lebeya.

“w e n e v e r g o t a n y r e s p o n s e f r o m h e r o f f i c e ... h e a l r e a d y a p p r o a c h e d A d v o c a t e B a t o h i , I d i d n o t s e e w h y a d i f f e r e n t r e s p o n s e f r o m A d v o c a t e B a t o h i t o t h e o n e i t w a s g i v e n t o G e n e r a l L e b e y a , n o r e s p o n s e , n o p r o s e c u t o r”

Captain McLean asserts that it is wrong for Advocate Johnson to have told Colonel Roelofse that Advocate Batohi would not appoint a prosecutor without clear communication.

“If it was indeed like we were told that Advocate Johnson said to Colonel Roelofse ... yes, then there is a lot wrong”

On 7 September 2022, COL ROELOFSE met with Advocate Johnson and then with Mr Leask, receiving forwarded WhatsApp exchanges between Bateman, Advocate Johnson and Advocate Nel before meeting Mr Leask.

“on 7 September 2022 , I would have met Mr Leask after my meeting with Advocate Johnson . I do recall that Mr Leask sent the WhatsApp exchange between Bateman and Advocate Johnson and Advocate Nel before I went to meet him”

General Lebeya gave Colonel ROELOFSE's affidavit to Advocate Batohi, who then showed or gave the statement to Advocate Johnson.

“General Lebeya met Advocate Batohi and gave her the Colonel 's affidavit . And thereafter , Advocate Batohi either showed or gave the Colonel 's statement to Advocate Johnson”

There was an issue between Khan and Petle mentioned in the affidavit that could only have come from the affidavit itself.

“there was an issue between Khan and Petle . That information could have only come from the affidavit itself”

On 31 January 2025, COL ROELOFSE retired from the South African Police Service and noted that they were unable to secure the appointment of a prosecutor to consider complaints against General Khan and Advocate Johnson, which he considered as defeating the ends of justice.

“On 31 January 2025 , I retired from the South African Police Service . At that stage , we were unable to secure the appointment of a prosecutor to consider both Brigadier Petle criminal complaint against General Khan and the allegations against Advocate Johnson of what I considered to be defeating the ends justice”

The case docket was assigned to Captain McLean after COL ROELOFSE retired, who had worked with him from the start and to whom he reported regularly.

“When I retired , the docket was assigned to Captain McLean , who had worked with me on the case from the start and to whom I report regularly on my interactions”

Captain McLean was part of a team including Colonel Roelofse, Colonel Viljoen, and Sergeant Cathy Williams working on the 2011 Vosloorus murder investigation.

“It was myself, Colonel Roelofse, Colonel Viljoen, Piet Viljoen, and Cathy Williams, Sergeant Cathy Williams.”

In 2018, General Jacobs informed Captain McLean and retired Colonel Roelofse about an incident involving Major General Feroz Khan and Advocate Andrea Johnson.

“We were approached by, actually, General Jacobs, who informed us about the Colonel, who had information regarding an incident that took place in 2018 relating to Major General Khan and Advocate Johnson.”