section 27 referral affidavit

The section 27 referral affidavit becomes the initial primary document forming the basis of the inquiry file and can be supplemented if needed.

“the section 27, when it is sent say by complainant, that forms the basis, that is the first document that we receive that say I have seen or I suspect that such and such an offence has been committed ... And that is the first document that we have when we are opening an inquiry file as we are building up our case and investigating. Now, if it is not sufficient, we will go back and obtain a further statement”

A complainant's section 27 referral affidavit should not be withheld from the Defence and should be part of the docket and disclosed like other documents in the inquiry.

“I do not understand why it had to be kept away from the Defence, because it is a complainant statement ... it should form part of the docket and be disclosed like all the other documents”

It is practical and proper that the section 27 referral affidavit be disclosed to all involved in the investigation since it is the source document.

“it actually makes practical sense that it should be out there for all those involved in the investigation to see ... Because it is the source document for the investigation”

There was confusion and scramble in the IDA offices in October 2025 about the whereabouts of the section 27 referral affidavit, which was thought missing or destroyed.

“on the 9th of October 2025 it did not exist because in File 10 on page 402 ... There was a scramble at IDA offices because people were looking for the section 27 ... nobody knew where it was ... they actually thought it is missing or it has been destroyed”

The draft section 28(13) application corroborates the version of the section 27 referral affidavit seen on 5 December 2024, when the application was drafted.

“My draft section 28(13) application is also corroboration of the version of the section 27 referral affidavit that I saw on the 5th of December 2024, when I drafted the application.”

The flighted section 27 referral affidavit does not contain allegations of unlawful vetting and polygraph testing and could only have gotten those allegations from the section 27 referral because no dockets were requested at that stage.

“The allegations of unlawful actions regarding vetting and polygraph testing is not contained in the flighted section 27 referral. I could only have gotten the allegations from the section 27 referral because at that stage we had not even requested the dockets.”

The section 27 referral affidavit contained allegations of procurement irregularities regarding the procurement of a forklift and vehicles for the PKTT including awarding tenders.

“The section 27 referral affidavit I considered contained allegations of procurement irregularities regarding the procurement of a forklift by Crime Intelligence and procurement of vehicles for the PKTT, hence the reference to awarding tenders in the section 28(13) application and authorisation.”

Mr Padayachee testified that he never had sight of the section 27 referral affidavit, which was difficult to believe given what he would have been expected to investigate.

“When Mr Padayachee testified and said that he never had sight of the section 27 referral affidavit, I suggested to him that that was very hard to believe because what would he have investigated if he did not have what was in effect the source document?”

A section 27 referral affidavit would not have made any difference to the investigation or decision.

“the section 27 referral affidavit could not possibly have made any difference even if the writer of this legal report had had sight of it . It would not have made any difference .”

The section 27 referral affidavit contains several allegations including siphoning of funds from secret accounts, secret funds given to certain ministers, and appointment of an outsider to the position of Brigadier, but the investigators were instructed to focus only on the Brigadier appointment issue.

“It makes several allegations. Some of them are siphoning funds from these secret accounts in the country. Some of them are secret funds being given to certain Ministers. Some of them are, so there is a lot of them. And then there is this one that deals with the appointment of an outsider to the position of Brigadier. Now, when your chief investigator or management were giving you a task, what did they say you must investigate? Did they say ignore all the other allegations in the section 27 affidavit, focus only on this one?”