Parliament disputes Fadiel Adams’ claims about faulty laptop
Updated Aug. 11, 2026, 6:19 p.m. | By Anastasi Mokgobu Parliament has disputed National Coloured Congress Member of Parliament Fadiel Adams’ claim that…
The Full Story
Updated Aug. 11, 2026, 6:19 p.m. | By Anastasi Mokgobu
Parliament has disputed National Coloured Congress Member of Parliament Fadiel Adams’ claim that problems with his parliamentary laptop contributed to his failure to respond to correspondence from the Madlanga Commission.
Adams was due to testify before the Commission in Pretoria on Tuesday, but his testimony was postponed after his witness statement was submitted late on Monday night.
Evidence Leader Advocate Matthew Chaskalson asked that Adams’ testimony be stood down until next Wednesday, saying the Commission had not been given enough time to properly prepare for his evidence.
Chaskalson told the Commission that there had been extensive correspondence with Adams about his statement and his response to a Rule 3 notice.
“There is a long and lengthy correspondence running through from October last year and then it starts to accelerate through April, May, June and July.”
He said the Commission had repeatedly sought Adams’ statement, eventually agreeing to give him until the previous Thursday to submit it.
“Our last offer was an agreement that the statement could be filed by Thursday last week.”
Adams ultimately submitted the statement after 9pm on Monday, hours before he was due to appear before the Commission.
During proceedings, Adams blamed the delay partly on problems with his Parliament-issued laptop.
He told the Commission that the device had been problematic for about 18 months, frequently freezing or being sent for repairs, and that this had affected his ability to access information.
The explanation prompted questions from Commission Chairperson Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, who questioned how Adams had been able to perform his parliamentary duties if he could not reliably access electronic communication.
READ: Parliament suspends NCC leader Fadiel Adams
Adams said he had sometimes had to seek information from other people.
Following Adams’ testimony, Parliament reviewed its Information and Communications Technology Service Desk records relating to support provided to him.
Parliament spokesperson Moloto Mothapo said those records do not support Adams’ description of a laptop that had been persistently malfunctioning.
“The records do not reflect any reported incident of persistent laptop malfunction, hardware failure, repeated freezing of the device, or the laptop being repeatedly submitted to ICT for repairs.”
Mothapo said the records instead show a number of routine ICT support requests.
These include a Windows password reset in January 2025, an ERP/Marang password reset in June 2025, assistance with logging into a device in July 2025, a Wi-Fi update in January 2026 and an ERP/Marang eDisclosure-related request in June 2026.
He said the matters were logged with Parliament’s ICT Service Desk and closed.
Mothapo said these types of problems are different from a device being unavailable or technically dysfunctional for an extended period.
“Parliament therefore has…