What you need to know before National Coloured Congress leader Fadiel Adams’ court appearance

National Coloured Congress leader Fadiel Adams is expected to appear in the Pinetown Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, 7 May on charges related to his alleged interference in the investigation into former ANC Youth League secretary-general Sindiso Magaqa’s assassination.

Why was Fadiel Adams arrested?

National Coloured Congress (NCC) leader and MP Fadiel Adams was arrested on Tuesday, 5 May, on charges of fraud and defeating or obstructing the course of justice. The State is expected to oppose Adams’s release on bail.

Adams allegedly interfered in the investigation into the 2017 assassination of former ANC Youth League secretary-general Sindiso Magaqa.

Adams’ lawyer Bruce Hendricks explained the chain of events that led to his client’s arrest on Tuesday. It all began with a prison visit in January 2025 to Westville Correctional Services in KZN.

Hendricks said one of the accused in the murder of Magaqa requested to see Adams. After arrangements were made, he visited the facility, where police and correctional services officials were present. During that meeting, Adams obtained an affidavit in which the accused allegedly implicated police officers in Magaqa’s murder.

The Madlanga Commission has heard how Crime Intelligence members were allegedly linked to Magaqa’s murder, an issue Hendricks said Adams claimed he wanted to expose.

In prison, Adams met with Sibusiso Ncengwa, who, in July 2025, was sentenced to an effective 25 years’ imprisonment for Magaqa’s murder. At the time of Adams’ visit, Ncengwa hadn’t been sentenced. Three other accused are still in custody in connection with the ongoing case, with one declared mentally unfit to stand trial.

However, SAPS spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said: “Through investigations, the task team discovered that Mr Adams interfered with the now convicted and sentenced hitman at a very sensitive and advanced stage of the police’s investigation.”

Magaqa’s family has also said they’re worried that the alleged interference by Adams could delay the trial of the other two accused, who are yet to stand trial in the murder case.

Hendricks said the affidavit Adams obtained was handed to the police, but no action had been taken. Adams has declined to disclose who asked him to investigate the Magaqa murder, saying the issue will be fully ventilated in court.

Why was the arrest so dramatic?

Adams was arrested by armed police in the parliamentary village in Cape Town. He was placed in a police van, where, while smoking a cigarette, he chatted to journalists on live TV.

Events unfolded rapidly in the days leading to his arrest.

In the early hours of Saturday, 2 May, in an apparent attempt to locate Adams, armed police raided a property in Westridge, Mitchells Plain, which had previously been owned by the MP, but had been sold two months earlier.

Adams has claimed that a family was harassed and held at gunpoint during the police search for him. He also said that officers failed to produce either a search warrant or a warrant of arrest.

On Monday, Adams said in a press briefing that he had emailed the acting police minister three weeks before, saying that he believed the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT) was seeking a warrant for his arrest.

In the lead-up to his arrest, Adams approached the Western Cape Division of the High Court in Cape Town, seeking clarity on whether a warrant had been issued against him. The matter resulted in an order by Judge Pinda Njokweni directing authorities to provide Adams with both the warrant of arrest and the application underpinning it.

Despite arrangements made through his legal representative for him to hand himself over on Monday, 4 May 2026, Adams failed to do so.

According to Adams, he had no intention of evading authorities, noting that he had legal representation on record and could have been approached through his attorney.

On Wednesday, before departing for KwaZulu-Natal, to where Adams had been taken, Hendricks told Daily Maverick that authorities had initially failed to present a warrant at the time of Adams’s arrest. He said it was only later, after confirming with Adams’ wife, that he established that a warrant had been produced at the police station.

Adams claims he’s being targeted — what’s the background?

The bigger story relates to the allegations made by KZN’s top cop Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi in July 2025, where he claimed that there had been criminal infiltration of law enforcement and politicians.

Both the Madlanga Commission and Parliament’s ad hoc committee are investigating the claims.

In their separate testimonies to the ad hoc committee, Mkhwanazi and Adams traded allegations.

Mkhwanazi claimed that Adams had interfered with police work and mishandled sensitive crime intelligence information. He further contended that some of the information Adams had disclosed was classified and restricted to vetted members of Parliament’s intelligence structures, with the requisite security clearance.

Adams has labelled Mkhwanazi a “constitutional delinquent” and “unfit to wear the police uniform”, accusing him of disregarding the law. He’s been a vocal critic of the PKTT.

During proceedings at the parliamentary ad hoc committee in July 2025, the NCC made it clear that it did not buy into Mkhwanazi’s claims, with its leadership arguing he was basically being “eulogised”, but that his July 2025 press conference was an attempt to deflect attention from or prevent the possible (and later confirmed) arrest of national Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola.

More broadly, Adams’ arrest follows the various criminal charges levelled against the country’s top cops, which many brush off as factional attempts to sideline them.

Adams’ lawyer, Hendricks, called the case against his client a politically charged storm, alleging the involvement of high-ranking police officials. From his perspective, the developments raise concerns about whether people who expose uncomfortable truths risk facing repercussions.

The police, meanwhile, maintain that Adams interfered with ongoing criminal matters and has a case to answer.

Proceedings are set to get under way in the Pinetown Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, 7 May, where the immediate focus will be on Adams’ bail application and whether he is released to continue his parliamentary duties. DM

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