Colonel Roe Loofse

Colonel Roe Loofse was a member of the South African Police Service attached to the Directorate of Priority Crime Investigations (Hawks) and retired on 31 January 2025.

“I was a member of the South African Police Service, SAPS, with the rank of Colonel, attached to the Directorate of Priority Crime Investigations, commonly known as the DPCI, and also known as the Hawks. I retired on the 31st of January 025.”

In May 2020 Colonel Roe Loofse was part of a team with Captain Mark McLean investigating crime intelligence matters within the Investigation Directorate of the National Prosecuting Authority (IDAC).

“In May 2020, I was part of a team... The team just consisted of me and Captain McLean. Captain Mark McLean, yes, relating to this matter. The team placed at IDAC with more members of the DPCI, but in terms of this matter and CI, Crime Intelligence Investigation, it was just me and Captain McLean and myself. It was part of a team placed at the Investigative Directorate of the National Prosecuting Authority, or now known as IDAC...”

The investigation team became familiar with crime intelligence officials who provided information, sometimes on unrelated ongoing investigations.

“While conducting investigations into Crime Intelligence, we became familiar with Crime Intelligence officials who would provide us with information. At times, these officers would provide information to ongoing investigations or matters that we were not aware of.”

Colonel Roe Loofse gives context of a 2018 event involving Advocate Andrea Johnson and Major General Feroz Khan, stating previous efforts to uncover crime intelligence matters were frustrated by media pressure and interference.

“Commissioners, for context, may be I should just refer to our investigation in 2020 in terms of Crime Intelligence and the conduct that we experienced at the time, which included the using of the media to put pressure on us when we investigated this matter from Crime Intelligence. Major General Khan played a huge role in that... So that media report was then placed and there was a lot of fallout in respect of that... So I expect no less now than what we went through.”

Colonel Roe Loofse states there was a 15 year struggle between police and National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to get Crime Intelligence matters on the roll, due to interference and impunity.

“So between the police and the NPA, we struggled about 15 years, 12 years to get a Crime Intelligence matter on the roll because of all the interference that we experienced.”

Colonel Roe Loofse confirms pattern of behaviour of impunity and interference in Crime Intelligence investigations, citing 2011 incident as example.

“This is a pattern of behaviour that I have experienced, and this specific incident just forms part of that pattern of behaviour. The impunity, the fact that they think they can get away with it, and they did for a long time... It is in that context that I am referring to what happened in 2011 because, how do I say, I have seen this movie before.”

In May 2022, in Crime Intelligence, a disclosure was made to Colonel Roe Loofse and Captain Mark McLean by a colonel and lieutenant colonel about an incident in 2018 involving Andrea Johnson and General Feroz Khan, deemed protected under the Protection Disclosure Act.

“Sometime in May 2022, a Colonel who was a captain at the time of the incident in 018, and a lieutenant Colonel when she approached us in 2022, in Crime Intelligence, approached Captain Mark McLean and me to make a disclosure which I deemed to be in terms of the Protection Disclosure Act of 26 of 2000. She informed us that in 2018, she shared an office with General Khan, who had been appointed as the Head of Operational Intelligence Support in September 2017...”

General Feroz Khan handed his cell phone to the colonel in 2018, asking her to give an email address of a person on the other end, later identified as Andrea Johnson.

“On 4 July 2018, while she was working in the office, General Khan, who was attending a meeting in the main boardroom, approached her, handed his cell phone to her and requested her to give an email address to the person on the other end of the phone. General Khan told the Colonel that the person on the other end was Andrea.”

The colonel complied by giving her personal email address to the caller on General Feroz Khan's phone, who said she would send an email whose contents must be given to Khan and then deleted.

“The female caller requested her personal email address and she complied. The Colonel told us that the female caller told her that she would send her an email and the contents of the email must be given to General Khan and thereafter, the Colonel must delete the email.”

The Colonel received an email with subject 'Petle Complaint' containing attachments including an audio file recording of General Khan and documents relating to a criminal complaint against General Khan by Brigadier Petle.

“The subject header of the email was Petle Complaint. The email had photo attachments and an audio file. The email contained photographs of the A1 statement of Brigadier Petle, at the time a Crime Intelligence officer, in a criminal complaint by her against General Khan for assault common, intimidation as well as a J88 medical report and an audio recording of General Khan taken at the time of the alleged incident. The alleged incident took place on 26 June 018 and the A1 was commissioned on the same day at Silverton police station and the case opened under Silverton CAS number 422/06/2018.”

The email from Andrea Johnson's Gmail was forwarded from Barry Bateman, a senior journalist, who sent the Petle complaint email with attachments on 3 July 2018. Colonel Roe Loofse printed and gave the envelope to General Khan but did not delete the email as requested.

“The email from Andrea Johnson's Gmail address to the Colonel's private email address was a forwarded email originating from Barry Bateman, who at the time was a senior journalist. Mr Bateman had sent the Petle complaint email with the attachment to Andrea Johnson's Gmail address on the 3rd of July 2018. The Colonel printed the email and attachments, placed them in an envelope and gave the envelope to General Khan. She did not delete the email as requested by the female caller.”