By Lesedi Sibiya-Diplomatic Insider
Parliament has rejected the excuse given by MP Fadiel Adams claiming that the laptop that was issued to him had been malfunctioning for the last 18 months.
Parliament has issued a statement expressing that they have reviewed records from its ICT service desk after these allegations were made by Adams during his testimony at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry.
Parliament noted that they had seen no evidence of any issues with his device including hardware failures or any instances of devices freezing especially during the specified period. Adams used this excuse as a reason for why he never responded to emails from the commission.
Adams had informed the commission that his laptop was freezing daily which he expressed made it difficult for him to access his emails and correspond with the commission. He said he was only aware that the commission had reached out to him three months ago.
However, the commission had proved unconvinced as they questioned how Adams could carry out his duties as a member of parliament if he was unable to solve his problems with his device.
Matthew Chaskalson, who serves as the Evidence Leader of the commission, had noted that he asked Adams to provide a sworn statement on October 25,2025 but stated that he failed to provide this statement.
This delay from Adams had forced a subpoena to be sent to him in order for him to appear before the commission of inquiry. Chaskalson said that Adams’ statement had only arrived at 9PM the night before he was scheduled to appear before the commission which had left the commission and the legal team involved with inadequate time to critically examine his evidence and prepare him for questioning.
“You had three months, and we only got your statement after 9PM, last night. What excuse do you have for that?” asked the Commission.
Adams’ response to this was “Parliament can confirm”, which left the commission feeling uneasy and it did little to ease the tension. Adam’s testimony has been postponed to 19 August which would give the legal team time to assess the statement given by Adams.