Brown Mogotsi has attributed his absence from the Madlanga Commission to severe jetlag, which he says triggered diarrhoea, dizziness and general illness following his appearance before an ad hoc parliamentary committee in Cape Town.
The committee is investigating allegations of drug cartel infiltration and political interference in the criminal justice system.
Mogotsi’s scheduled testimony before the commission last week had to be postponed after he failed to appear. When he finally took the stand on Wednesday, he admitted he was still unwell.
“Coming back from Cape Town since Friday, I was not okay,” he told the commission. “Like you say, confidentiality of the illness — but mine, I just had a lot of pressure, more like diarrhoea. I was so sick. I’m still not well.
“But I thought, for the Commission’s information, throughout the engagement it is me who suggested that day to the evidence leader. So I really apologise. But indeed, I was very ill and very dizzy also,” he said apologetically.
Commission chairperson Justice Mbuyiselo Madlanga expressed frustration with Mogotsi, describing the medical certificate he submitted as questionable and part of a troubling pattern in which witnesses suddenly report illness accompanied by vague or inadequate sick notes.
Madlanga warned the self-proclaimed police informant that the certificate had been referred to the relevant medical regulatory body for verification. He cautioned that both Mogotsi and the doctor who issued the note could face consequences if it is found to be false.
“Even though the answer to what I’m going to put to you does not really lie with you, I will ask you this: do you have any problem if we refer your medical certificate to the council that governs the medical profession?” Madlanga asked. Mogotsi replied that he had no objection.
The chairperson added that matters involving witnesses’ medical conditions would henceforth be dealt with in private session where appropriate.
“In addition to that, we are entitled to furnish the medical certificate to the council that governs the medical profession for it to inform us professionally whether what is written on the certificate makes medical sense,” he said.
“We are not going to sit here and continue receiving useless medical certificates like the last one was, and like yours appears to be.”
Madlanga noted that repeated last-minute claims of sudden illness are creating serious scheduling difficulties for the commission.