Brown Mogotsi Faces Possible Perjury Charges Over Deleted WhatsApp Messages at Madlanga Commission

• Brown Mogotsi has landed himself in more trouble over the evidence he presented before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry
• The political fixer brought forward an application to have Chief Evidence Leader, Advocate Matthew Chaskalson, recused the proceedings
• The North West businessman's lawyer provided WhatsApp communication as evidence of his claim, but the screenshots raised red flags

Byron Pillay, a Briefly News journalist, has dedicated a decade to reporting on the South African political landscape, crime, and social issues. He worked as a newspaper journalist for 10 years before transitioning to online.

GAUTENG – Brown Mogotsi could face charges of perjury, defeating the ends of justice, and contravening the Commissions Act following his latest appearance before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry.

The North West businessman appeared before the Commission on 15 May 2026, as he sought to have Chief Evidence Leader, Mathew Chaskalson, recused.

Mogotsi wanted Advocate Chaskalson removed from questioning him primarily on the grounds of alleged bias and unfair treatment. He expressed unhappiness with the evidence leader labelling him a liar. The political fixer also claimed that Advocate Chaskalson tried to pressure him into providing incriminating evidence against Suleiman Carrim.

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Why could Mogotsi be charged?

Before his application was ultimately dismissed, evidence leader Advocate Adila Hassim asked the Commission to recommend criminal charges against Mogotsi. These include perjury, defeating the ends of justice, and contravening the Commissions Act.

During the application, Mogotsi’s lawyer, Advocate Nthabiseng Mohomane, presented screenshots of conversations he had with Advocate Chaskalson.

It then emerged that Mogotsi deleted parts of the WhatsApp conversations and calls with Chaskalson. His lawyer said that he did not do this to mislead the Commission, but rather to protect conversations from third parties. She added that he deleted traces of the calls because they were ‘hold no significance’.

Evidence leader Adil Hassim SC described Mogotsi’s application as a deliberate misrepresentation of facts and abuse of the commission’s processes.

Mogotsi’s lawyer claims evidence leader pressured her client

Advocate Mohomane also focused on a specific message from the evidence leader, where he told Mogotsi that ‘you can’t mess me around’.

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She argued that this was proof that Advocate Chaskalson was pressuring Mogotsi to provide information. It was established that the message was actually taken out of context.

Chaskalson sent Mogotsi the message after the North West businessman didn’t honour an appointment and made him wait for over two hours.

Texts showed that the evidence leader and Mogotsi were then arranging to set up another meeting, with Advocate Chaskalson saying that it was possible, but asking that Mogotsi didn’t mess him around by not showing up again.

Source: Briefly News