A story that caught my eye
I was scrolling through the noise — inflation, police scandals, the rand doing whatever it does — when something stopped me.
A man surrounded by cameras, being marched to a police van. Not silent. Not afraid. Or if he was, he hid it behind words.
His name is Fadiel Adams. Born 14 June 1976. Once led the “Gatvol Capetonian” movement around 2018. Founded the National Coloured Congress (NCC). Won a seat in the National Assembly in 2024.
On Tuesday 5 May 2026, the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT) arrested him at the Parliamentary Village in Cape Town. A J50 warrant for fraud and defeating the course of justice. The case: the 2017 murder of Sindiso Magaqa, former ANC Youth League leader, killed for exposing corruption in Durban.
Police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said Adams allegedly interfered with convicted hitman Sibusiso Ncengwa at a “sensitive and advanced stage” of the probe. He was urged to hand himself over on Monday 4 May. He allegedly failed. Scheduled to appear in a KwaZulu-Natal court that same day. Allegedly did not show. They found him at the Parliamentary Village instead.
The Press Briefing: A Couple of Days Before
Adams sat at a microphone. He knew they were coming.
He described a 4:00 AM raid on his previous residence — a place he no longer lives. An innocent teacher, 30 years old, had firearms pointed in her face. Her husband made to lie on the ground. A 12-year-old son assaulted by something that “claims to be a police officer.” He laid cases of intimidation against SAPS. He blamed Lieutenant General Mkhwanazi, the National Commissioner, calling him “the weakest form of police commissioner this country has had in 30 years” and “the coward who ran away when the country needed him.“
He admitted visiting Westville Prison to interview Ncengwa, the killer of “one of our finest citizens.” Escorted by Metro Police, not SAPS, on his official duty. He said the killer gave a written statement: SAPS escorted him to the crime scene and back. The killer “wants to tell the truth” with “nothing in exchange.” Yet Mkhwanazi “hasn’t sent a single policeman to go and hear this man’s story.“
He alleged Mkhwanazi and a colleague colluded to have a lieutenant incriminate him before a committee. Cameras set up. A script ready. The lieutenant was supposed to say Adams abused his power for blue lights. The lieutenant refused. The conference call never happened.
Then he addressed Mkhwanazi directly. Referenced a song: “You’ll be the last *********** breathing.” Replied: “No, you won’t, but I will.“
Quoted 2Pac: “A coward dies a thousand deaths. A soldier dies but once.“
“So you’re free to come and get me.“
The Arrest: 5 May 2026
They came. The press was there. Adams looked at the cameras.
“Why send 15 men from KZN with rifles to come and arrest an unarmed man who was offered to hand himself over if you just sent him the notice three weeks ago?“
“When criminals run the system, they can do nothing else but act like criminals.“
He said he was not intimidated. Invited them to kill him now if that was the plan.
“So if you’re planning on killing me, now is the time to do it. Why? I think you should.“
He predicted assault. Waterboarding.
“Guys, I’m about to be assaulted and — I don’t know — I’m probably gonna get waterboarded. This is how it works. I’m telling you what’s going to happen.“
Then:
“Do you know Khumalo, bra? Look, as you can see, I’m not intimidated. If I survive this night, you and I are gonna dance.“
They put him in the police van. Taken by road to KwaZulu-Natal. No warm clothing. Family allegedly does not know where he is. Due in court 7 May 2026. The State may oppose bail — his failure to hand himself over could be seen as absconding.
Patricia Mashale
She came forward after the arrest. Said she told Adams the hitman wanted to speak. If they arrest Adams for “exposing the real truth,” they must arrest her too.
“I am not afraid to go to jail for the truth, because you cannot run from the truth forever.“
Directed at General Mkhwanazi and General Khumalo.
I do not know her. Brave? Naive? Both? In a country where most stay quiet, her voice stayed with me.
Where I Stand: Conflicted
A couple of months ago, I watched Fadiel Adams sit before the Ad Hoc Committee and call General Mkhwanazi “a constitutional delinquent.” It was classic Adams — combative, unfiltered, burning bridges while the cameras rolled.
Then Ms Dereleen Elana James stood up. Her response stopped me:
“Mr. Adams, I am grateful for this constitutional delinquent, who has amplified our voices and exposed what you and I have known for many years… I may not agree with everything that he has said, but I can tell you what General Mkhwanazi did on the 6th is appreciated by me and by many South Africans.“
I sat with that for a while. “Constitutional delinquent” — yet appreciated. Exposed what we have known for many years — yet not agreed with everything. It was not a defense. It was an admission that the world is not good versus bad. It is complicated people, doing what they think is right, sometimes for wrong reasons, sometimes by accident.
But here is where I am now, watching this unfold: I am confused. I am conflicted.
Mkhwanazi — from where I sit — appears to be a smart man with a cool head. He moves deliberately. He does not rant. He does not quote 2Pac to parliamentary committees. He lets others lose their temper while he keeps his.
Adams, meanwhile, appears irrational. Hot. He moves fast and blindly — visiting prisons without authority, taking statements from killers, ignoring court dates, daring police to arrest him, then daring them to kill him when they do. He performs at every turn. He cannot help himself.
And yet.
The 4:00 AM raid on the wrong house. The teacher with a gun in her face. The 12-year-old assaulted. The fifteen men with rifles for one unarmed man. The road trip to KZN with no warm clothing, family not knowing where he is. This is not the work of a cool head. This is either incompetence or cruelty — and in South Africa, it is usually both.
So who is telling the truth?
I do not know. Mkhwanazi is smart, yes. But smart men can be corrupt men. Cool heads can calculate just as well as they can govern. And Adams — for all his heat, his recklessness, his theatre — may have stumbled onto something real in that prison. The killer’s written statement. The claim that SAPS escorted him to the scene. The allegation that Mkhwanazi tried to script a lieutenant’s testimony before a committee.
Or it may all be fantasy. The self-serving story of a man who needs to be the hero of every room he enters.
I am left with this: Mkhwanazi is smart. Adams is hot. In a functioning system, that would make the choice easy. But this is South Africa, where smart men run broken institutions and hot men sometimes break the right things open.
I am still watching. Still conflicted. Still unsure who to believe.
What Stays With Me
Inflation does not care about this drama. The unemployed do not benefit. Kidnapping victims are not rescued by press conferences.
But this story revealed something: a country where police are feared, politicians perform, and truth is somewhere on the road from Cape Town to KwaZulu-Natal, in the back of a van, with a man who will not stop talking.
“I’ve been arrested, I’m about to be processed… If I survive this night, you and I are gonna dance.“
The doors closed. The cameras rolled.
I do not know if he is a hero, a fraud, or a man who learned that in a noisy country, the only way to be heard is to never stop speaking — even in handcuffs.
But this made me pause. Not because it was important. Because it was human. Messy. Brave. Ridiculous. Real.
Sometimes, that is enough.
This is not an editorial. It is simply what I saw, what I heard, and what stays with me.
