Overview

• Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga ruled that Thursday and Friday’s testimony will be heard behind closed doors at the commission in Pretoria.
• Chief evidence leader Adv Matthew Chaskalson SC said the new witness will address ongoing police investigations, which necessitated in-camera proceedings.
• News24 and Daily Maverick withdrew their opposition to the application for closed sessions, and the ruling went unchallenged by the media.
• The move follows Tuesday’s disrupted remote appearance by Witness X, after which evidence leader Adv Adila Hassim read the testimony into the record for safety reasons.
• Three additional witnesses are scheduled for next week in partially closed sessions, with two testifying remotely off-camera without an intermediary and one remotely via an intermediary; evidence leaders plan no further witnesses under the current application and will give 72 hours’ notice for any future in-camera bids.