Intelligence leak fears after data from Maj-Gen Feroz Khan’s seized phones surfaced

What The Citizen reports

According to The Citizen, senior intelligence figures fear the public disclosure of information allegedly extracted from Major‑General Feroz Khan’s seized cellphones could be one of the biggest intelligence security breaches in SA history.

The Citizen has also seen an affidavit Khan intended to lodge in which, the paper says, he does not accuse Acting Deputy Chief Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga of wrongdoing. The affidavit asks investigators to determine who, along the chain of custody after his devices were seized, unlawfully released protected intelligence information into the public domain, The Citizen reports.

Allegations in the affidavit

In the statement Khan prepared, he said the devices contained years of Crime Intelligence material, including operational communications, confidential source information and investigative methodologies, and warned that dissemination of the material may have compromised operational structures, ongoing investigations and the safety of operational personnel.

He asked investigators to determine whether offences were committed under Section 4 of the Protection of Information Act or other legislation. Section 4 criminalises the unlawful disclosure, publication, communication or negligent handling of protected information relating to the security or interests of the republic, and extends to people who receive protected information while knowing, or reasonably suspecting, that it has been unlawfully disclosed.

Chain of custody and CaseLines

The Citizen reports that police searched Khan’s residence on 10 May under a warrant linked to an investigation and seized multiple electronic devices, including cellphones, a tablet and electronic storage devices. Khan challenged the legality of that search and seizure in the High Court in Johannesburg, the paper says.

The Citizen says Khan became aware through affidavits filed in those proceedings that information extracted from the devices had been used in proceedings before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry, and that documents with extracts were uploaded to the CaseLines online platform before portions of the material became publicly available and were reported in the media.

Intelligence community alarm

According to The Citizen, a source close to the investigation said years of Crime Intelligence work may have been compromised, exposing confidential informants, intelligence methodologies and people linked to some of South Africa’s most sensitive police investigations.

The Citizen also quotes a source close to those structures saying there were significant legal and operational implications if the information had indeed been unlawfully disclosed. That source questioned whether information obtained without a search‑and‑seizure warrant for phones could lawfully be relied upon and warned about risks to sources if extracts were published without context.

Requests in the affidavit

Khan’s affidavit requests that investigators reconstruct the entire chain of custody, establish who accessed or handled mirrored images and forensic copies of his devices, and determine the legal authority under which the material was accessed, The Citizen reports. He stated he did not know who had accessed, handled or disseminated the information.

Ongoing legal matters

The Citizen notes Khan did not accuse the commission of wrongdoing in the affidavit and acknowledged that possession of the information by the commission is the subject of ongoing High Court proceedings.

Separate to the affidavit, The Citizen reports Khan prepared a criminal complaint days before he was shot in an apparent assassination attempt outside his Houghton home; in that complaint he raised the alleged unlawful dissemination of information extracted from devices seized during the police raid.