NPA Confirms IDAC Investigator Dylan Perumal Is Hospitalised After Suicide Allegations

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has dismissed claims that Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) investigator Dylan Perumal attempted suicide. The clarification follows reports that Perumal fell ill and was hospitalised this week.

Perumal's Name Raised During Madlanga Commission Testimony

Perumal's hospitalisation comes as his conduct has been discussed during proceedings at the Madlanga Commission.

On Monday, Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala made allegations about Perumal and fellow IDAC investigator Brian Padayachee, claiming they questioned him about information involving three senior police officials.

According to Matlala, the investigators wanted information about National Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola, KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi and the head of Crime Intelligence, General Dumisani Khumalo.

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Matlala alleged that Perumal and Padayachee booked him out of Ebongweni Correctional Facility in Kokstad and took him to the Sheraton Hotel instead of C-Max prison.

He claimed the investigators asked him whether he had information about the three generals and encouraged him to contact former KwaZulu-Natal Hawks head General Lesetja Senona.

Matlala told the commission: “Then they said, ‘Listen, is there anything that you can give me for these three generals? I said, ‘No, I don’t know. I don’t have any information about them’. They said, ‘No, man, we know that you’re very close with [former KZN Hawks head] General [Lesetja] Senona. Call him and ask him if he can give you any information.

“So when he gave me the phone, he said, ‘Use WhatsApp’. I deliberately used a straight call so that, at some point, whatever I’m saying now can be corroborated. I spoke with General Senona, but it was in the AMs, and then he didn’t even trust that it was me on the phone. And then he said, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about’. They took me back to C-Max.”

Matlala Disputes Contents Of His Witness Statement

Matlala also alleged that Perumal later took him to prepare the witness statement that became part of his failed plea agreement negotiations with IDAC.

He disputed parts of the document, claiming that some of the information had been inserted by Perumal rather than provided by him.

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“I want you to know that some of the things which are there are not from myself. So I cannot answer things to which I did not depose a statement.

“I have proof of that because I asked one of my assistants, the junior from my lawyer’s office, to listen, because when I was giving the statement, Perumal himself was the one who was typing the statement. He typed whatever suited him.”

Matlala's allegations form part of the wider scrutiny of IDAC's investigation and its handling of information obtained during the failed plea agreement negotiations.

The NPA has not linked Perumal's hospitalisation to the allegations raised at the commission and has urged the public not to circulate unverified claims about his condition.