Acting National Intelligence Coordinating Committee (NICOC) coordinator Dr Ntandazo Sifolo has agreed to allow some declassified documents to be used during open hearings at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry.
The documents will be used to question Sifolo and other witnesses during public proceedings, although they will not be displayed publicly.
Among the documents expected to be introduced during the open hearings are an intelligence brief and a document titled “Questionable Credibility of IDAC”.
However, Sifolo has not authorised the release of other documents for public hearings. These may still be used to question witnesses during closed, in-camera proceedings.
The development follows a directive from the commission last week instructing its evidence leaders to approach Sifolo to establish whether any of the documents he is expected to testify about could be used during public hearings.
The directive came after media organisations Daily Maverick’s Scorpio, amaBhungane and News24 objected to a blanket decision to hold Sifolo’s testimony in camera.
The media organisations argued against conducting the entire testimony behind closed doors, as the documents in question had initially been declassified for the purposes of the commission, but not for public consumption.
The latest development allows some of the material to be used in open proceedings, while other documents remain restricted to in-camera hearings.