Feroz Khan Sick Notes: Doctor Warned Changes “Could Constitute Fraud”
Forensic Examination of Altered Pre-Shooting Sick Notes Triggers High-Stakes Legal Battle as Sidelined Police General Faces Forced Medical Assessment
A fierce legal battle erupted inside the Madlanga Commission as evidence leaders unveiled forensic evidence demonstrating that pre-shooting medical certificates belonging to Major General Faraz Khan were rewritten, backdated, and altered to move an incapacity date prior to a violent late-night shooting.
The high-stakes proceedings commenced after Major General Faraz Khan failed to appear in person under subpoena, prompting his legal team, led by attorney Mahomed Vahed, to file a urgent medical postponement application based on a clinical report dated August 27, 2026.
The clinical report detailed that a psychiatrist had been treating Major General Faraz Khan on an outpatient basis since August 5, 2026, noting a sudden deterioration on August 24, 2026—just days before his scheduled commission appearance—which led to his hospital admission on August 25, 2026.
Counsel argued that Major General Faraz Khan was functionally unable to participate in prolonged public proceedings, offering a cautious prognosis for potential participation around October 1, 2026, while demanding absolute secrecy and closed hearings due to unresolved security threats following a June 28, 2026 shooting in Houghton.
Commission evidence leader Advocate Hassam fiercely opposed the blanket confidentiality request, revealing that Major General Faraz Khan had repeatedly failed to submit a required written statement requested by the commission on June 5, 2026, well before the shooting took place.
Advocate Hassam then placed on the record an affidavit from psychiatrist Dr. Fine, who admitted to altering two medical certificates on August 20, 2026, after receiving a direct visit from the son of Major General Faraz Khan.
According to the sworn statement of Dr. Fine, the general’s son requested adjustments to include diagnostic details and alter incapacity dates, prompting Dr. Fine to explicitly warn him that modifying previously submitted certificates could constitute criminal fraud.
The general’s son left the room to telephone Major General Faraz Khan, returning to assure Dr. Fine that the original medical notes had never been submitted to the South African Police Service.
Relying on those assurances, Dr. Fine executed the alterations, backdating the document to May 22, 2026, adding a diagnosis of extreme stress, depression, and anxiety, and retroactively changing the incapacity end date from June 30, 2026, to June 27, 2026.
Reading from the affidavit of General Khumalo, Advocate Hassam highlighted that the original sick note booked Major General Faraz Khan off until June 30, 2026, but he was shot late at night on June 28, 2026.
General Khumalo stated in his affidavit that altering the date to June 27, 2026, appeared designed to prevent awkward official inquiries regarding why Major General Faraz Khan was out on the street late at night while officially booked off sick.
Commissioners, including Justice Madlanga and Commissioner Baloyi, critically reviewed the original medical certificate from May 18, 2026, and the altered version, rejecting assertions that the changes constituted routine administrative corrections requested by police authorities.
To resolve the impasse, Advocate Hassam demanded an independent medical examination of Major General Faraz Khan, rejecting defense proposals that an independent doctor merely consult with his treating psychiatrist.
Justice Madlanga issued an oral ruling in principle, rejecting the blanket secrecy order sought by Mahomed Vahed and ordering Major General Faraz Khan to submit to an independent medical examination, while allowing only the general nature of his medical condition to remain public.
The commission’s exposure follows a parallel disciplinary crisis within law enforcement, where Major General Jabulani Khumalo presided over a sitting on August 12, 2026, examining post-shooting trauma documents, including a J88 report and treating doctor certificates.
During those internal proceedings, Major General Jabulani Khumalo alleged that discrepancies in dates and signatures on the medical notes were visible to the naked eye, leading the treating trauma surgeon to execute an authenticating affidavit on August 13, 2026, confirming electronic signature usage.
After Major General Faraz Khan failed to attend disciplinary hearings on August 12 and August 13, police management invoked Regulation 9 subsection 7 on August 17, 2026, suspending him without pay and initiating a 10-day countdown toward automatic discharge.
Police union POPCRU launched an urgent Labor Court application to halt the disciplinary process, challenge the authority of Major General Jabulani Khumalo, and set aside the unpaid suspension.
Presiding Labor Court Judge Connie Prinsloo decisively struck POPCRU’s application off the roll for lack of jurisdiction and urgency, ordering the union to pay costs and stating that taxpayers should not fund urgent applications where basic jurisdictional requirements are unmet.
With his Labor Court challenge dismissed and the Madlanga Commission ordering an independent psychiatric evaluation, Major General Faraz Khan faces impending criminal charges for non-appearance alongside ongoing police discharge proceedings.
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