Cape Town – Parliament has rejected as false claims by National Coloured Congress MP Fadiel Adams during his appearance before the Madlanga Commission that his laptop was regularly booked in for repairs.
The MP, who appeared before the Commission under subpoena earlier today, Tuesday 11 August 2026, blamed his Parliament-issued laptop for his inability to access messages on time, including the notification to hand in his affidavit.
In explaining why he only handed in his affidavit late on Monday, 10 August 2026, MP Adams attributed delays in accessing correspondence from the Commission to persistent problems with his Parliament-issued laptop.
MP Adams indicated, among other things, that his laptop had been problematic for approximately 18 months, was frequently either frozen or in for repairs, and that this had affected his ability to access information.
Given his claims, which Commission chair retired Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga dismissed as unlikely and, if true, indicated that MP Adams was not properly fulfilling his mandate as a Member of Parliament since he could not access messages for several months.
Nevertheless, the Commission postponed MP Adams’ testimony to later in August, because it needed to have a look at his affidavit before it could hear him.
Reacting to MP Adams’ claims at the Commission, Parliament issued an extraordinary statement which said: “Ordinarily, Parliament would not comment on explanations offered by a Member in proceedings before a commission of inquiry.
“However, insofar as these claims create the impression that Parliament failed over an extended period to provide a Member with functional tools of trade necessary for the performance of his constitutional responsibilities, the institutional record requires clarification.
“Following Mr. Adams’s remarks, Parliament reviewed the ICT Service Desk records relating to technical support logged for him during the relevant period.
“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.”
Parliament said the ICT incidents recorded during this period relate primarily to routine user-access and account-support matters.
“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,” the statement said.
“These matters were recorded through Parliament’s ICT Service Desk and were closed.
Password resets, authentication or login difficulties and connectivity configuration are routine ICT support matters and are materially different from a device being technically dysfunctional or unavailable for an extended period.
Parliament said it has no ICT Service Desk record supporting the assertion that MP Adams’ parliamentary laptop was persistently dysfunctional for approximately 18 months in the manner described before the Commission.
“It is also important to clarify that Parliament’s provision of tools of trade to Members is not limited to a single laptop,” the statement said.
“Members are provided with multiple ICT devices, including a laptop, tablet and smartphone, precisely to support continuity of access and enable Members to perform their parliamentary responsibilities.
“Where a Member experiences a technical problem with an allocated device, established ICT support channels are available for the incident to be logged, diagnosed and resolved.”
Alternative Parliament-issued devices also provide continuity of access while a particular device is being attended to.
Parliament said its clarification was confined to its own ICT and administrative records and should not be construed as commenting on the substance of MP Adams’ evidence before the Commission.
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