MP Fadiel Adams remanded in custody as state opposes bail over ‘fugitive’ remarks

The state has no reasonable grounds to prosecute or keep National Cape Congress (NCC) Fadiel Adams in custody and appears intent on punishing him, his lawyer, Bruce Hendricks, says.

Hendricks made the argument during Adams’s first appearance in the Pinetown Magistrate’s Court on Thursday. Adams, who is an MP and a member of parliament’s portfolio committee on police, was remanded in custody and is expected back in court on Wednesday for a bail application.

“Everybody is equal before the law and Mr Adams should be treated the same way,” Hendricks argued. “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that the state has been sitting with the matter for more than a year but today they are seeking a postponement. What we have here is that the state is upset by the media briefings that Mr Adams has held.”

Hendricks, who pushed for the bail application to be heard on the same day, also submitted to magistrate Wendalyn Robinson that the state had claimed Adams’s life was under threat, while seeking to keep him in custody.

“The very same state that said it had safety concerns for Mr Adams says he must be kept in custody and further endanger his life. Mr Adams is not accused of murder or war crimes. It cannot be in the interests of justice to keep him in custody,” he said.

Hendricks also criticised the manner in which Adams had been transported, saying his client was driven 1 600km from the Western Cape to Durban in the back of a van. He argued that Adams, who is married and has two minor children, needed to be at home with his family.

Adams, 49, faces three counts of fraud and two counts relating to the administration of justice.

He entered the courtroom appearing relaxed before warmly embracing his mother, who was flanked by NCC members. Nearby, his wife stood quietly in the public gallery.

The state fired the opening salvo through prosecutor Zwelethu Mata, who said that while the state had initially not intended to oppose bail, it had since changed its position because of Adams’s conduct.

“He openly said that he is a fugitive, someone running from the law. It concerns us,” Mata submitted. 

“He goes further to say, among his press briefings, ‘if you want to find me, you can come find me’. This is indicative of a catch-me-if-you-can attitude.”

Mata said the state needed time to obtain recordings and other material relating to Adams’s media briefings.

He further argued that Adams had used profanity directed at the justice system and had interfered with state witnesses.

Robinson granted the remand, saying that although she had questions of her own regarding the state’s request, it was not unreasonable.

At the centre of the state’s case are allegations that Adams made unauthorised trips from Cape Town to Durban on 2 November 2024 and 24 January 2025, during which he visited Westville Prison. The state alleges that Adams conducted separate interviews with two awaiting-trial inmates during the visits.

One of the inmates was Sibusiso Ncengwa, alleged to be a key figure and hitman in the high-profile assassination of former ANC Youth League secretary Sindiso Magaqa, who at the time of his killing was a councillor at uMzimkhulu Local Municipality.

Magaqa died from gunshot wounds on 4 September 2017 at Durban’s Chief Albert Luthuli Hospital. He had been ambushed and critically wounded on 13 July 2017 while travelling in a car with two other councillors, who survived the attack.

The state also alleges that Adams abused and misrepresented his status as an MP, misleading the SAPS and eThekwini Metro Police into escorting him in a convoy with blue lights from King Shaka International Airport to Westville Prison. 

According to the state, Adams told prison officials he was conducting parliamentary oversight duties.

It is further alleged that Adams kept his Durban trips secret because he wanted to persuade Ncengwa to change his confession statement and implicate Lieutenant General Dumisani Khumalo, the divisional commissioner of crime intelligence. 

Sources claim Adams was working with individuals seeking to discredit Khumalo. Ncengwa, who has since been sentenced for his role in Magaqa’s assassination, allegedly intended to reveal who masterminded the hit.