The North West businessman's doctor will be subpoenaed by the commission.
Businessman Suliman Carrim testifies before Madlanga commission at Brigitte Mabandla Judicial College in Pretoria on 10 March 2026. Picture: Gallo Images/Frennie Shivambu
Questions over the credibility of North West businessman Suliman Carrim’s reported ill-health have intensified after allegations surfaced at the Madlanga commission that he was seen in public despite being declared medically unfit to testify.
Carrim had been expected to appear before the commission, which is probing alleged criminality, political interference and corruption within South Africa’s justice system, on Wednesday, 15 July 2026, at the Brigitte Mabandla Justice College in Pretoria.
His testimony, which began took place on 9 and 10 March, was interrupted after Carrim allegedly suffered a heart attack while at a gym – two days before he was set to resume his evidence at the commission.
He was subsequently admitted to Milpark Hospital and has not returned to the witness stand since a postponement was granted on 14 April.
A further appearance scheduled for late June was also postponed on medical grounds.
Suliman Carrim allegedly spotted outside
Evidence leader Matthew Chaskalson revealed during proceedings on Wednesday that the commission had received a medical certificate the previous day stating that Carrim had been hospitalised on 17 June.
“When we received that doctor’s note yesterday, it seems to explain Mr Carrim’s apparent inability to appear today,” he said.
However, new information soon emerged suggesting Carrim may not have been incapacitated as claimed.
“Later in the afternoon yesterday we received two different whistle-blower reports, both confirming that Carrim and an entourage had been yesterday seen going for lunch at a shopping centre in Western Cape.
“The two reports corroborated the same details. They seem to be independent of one another and they have now been confirmed by eyewitnesses at that shopping centre who we have independently contacted.
“So, we now have it from multiple different sources that someone who seems very much to be Carrim arrived at a shopping centre with an entourage, and went into Woolworths before going for a late lunch at a restaurant,” Chaskalson told the commission.
The commission is now awaiting CCTV footage from the shopping centre to verify these claims. It expects to receive it on Thursday.
Madlanga commission seeks subpoena
There are additional reports that Carrim had attended social gatherings in the North West.
“We have a concern that Mr Carrim may be taking liberties with this commission,” Chaskalson remarked.
In response, the commission’s legal team plans to issue subpoenas to determine the exact timeline of Carrim’s hospitalisation.
His Cape Town-based doctor is also expected to be subpoenaed as part of the inquiry.
Chaskalson further requested that Carrim’s postponement application be formally heard on Friday, 17 July.
‘He is presently in hospital’
Carrim’s legal representative, Advocate Kameel Premhid, rejected any suggestion that his client had misled the commission, maintaining that Carrim remains under medical care.
“We only learnt these facts today,” he said on Wednesday.
The lawyer criticised the manner in which the allegations were introduced during proceedings, describing it as “regrettable”.
“The client is not here because he is presently in hospital, so, it’s unfortunate that we have learnt about it in this way,” Premhid argued.
He also raised concerns about access to the CCTV footage.
While vehicle registration details linked to Carrim and his entourage were shared, uncertainty remains over whether the footage itself will be disclosed to the legal team.
Premhid further took issue to requests by Chaskalson for Carrim’s legal team to disclose detailed information, including the specific dates of his hospitalisation and a record of his travel over the past four months, within the postponement application.
“I’m now concerned that we are inadvertently using the postponement application and the allegations regarding the movements of my client as a mechanism through the back door to undermine the otherwise unimpugned medical evidence in front of you,” the advocate told the commissioners.
Legal battle and allegations
Carrim’s testimony has already been the subject of legal dispute after he unsuccessfully attempted to block his appearance before the commission.
The Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg dismissed his interdict application on 5 February.
He had also requested to give evidence in-camera, arguing that he has faced death threats, but that application was rejected by the commission.
WhatsApp communications have linked Carrim to controversial tenderpreneur Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala, ANC-aligned political fixer Brown Mogotsi, and Tembisa Hospital figure Hangwani Morgan Maumela.
He also faces allegations that he received payments in exchange for confidential police information.
Carrim has rejected these claims, maintaining that his relationship with Matlala was purely business-related.
He told the commission that he invested R10 million in Matlala’s company, Medicare24 Tshwane, and that he has so far received a net return of R1.7 million.
Carrim further acknowledged making a payment of R500 000 to Maumela, which he claimed was less than the R750 000 Matlala had requested him to transfer.
