NATIONAL Coloured Congress (NCC) leader and MP Fadiel Adams has been arrested.
Adams was arrested on Tuesday in Cape Town.
This follows the Saps statement, which called on the MP to present himself at the nearest police station.
According to police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe, Adams was arrested in connection with a fraud case and for defeating and/or obstructing the course of justice.
Mathe said Adams was arrested over allegations that he interfered with ongoing investigations into the murder of the late ANC Youth League leader Sindiso Magaqa.
“Through investigations, the task team discovered that Mr Adams interfered with the now convicted and sentenced hitman at a very sensitive and advanced stage of the police’s investigation,” said Mathe.
Speaking to the media after his arrest, Adams alleged he would “be assaulted” and “probably waterboarded”.
“This is how it works. I am telling you what is going to happen. Let them do their worst,” he said, adding that he “probably needed a holiday anyway.”
In two separate interviews with Radio 786 on Monday and Tuesday, Adams said that although he was aware of a warrant for his arrest, he did not know what the charges against him were.
“The problem is that my attorneys have contacted the political killings task team (PKTT), who have confirmed that there’s a warrant out for me, but they will not show them the warrant so that we can start preparing. Now, my lawyers are stumped because they’re saying it’s a very simple thing; just show us the certificate. They are saying no, he needs to hand himself over,” he said.
Adams said he did not understand why the police had invested so many resources to secure his arrest when he was not being accused of a violent crime.
“I’ve not killed anyone. I’ve never been accused of killing anyone, and I’ve never been accused of a violent crime. If there’s a warrant out for my arrest, why not just ask Saps Mitchells Plain to come and collect me?
“Because I saw this thing coming, I wrote to General Mkhwanazi and the police minister, and I said, ‘I believe the PKTT is going to cook up something against me. But here’s my attorney on record. Here’s his number. If you have a warrant, please contact us. We’ll comply. They have that email. They still chose to send a heat squad out.”
Earlier, Mathe said police had arranged with Adams’ attorney for him to hand himself over on Monday, 4 May 2026, at the Cape Town Central Police Station, but he had not cooperated.
Charges
Adams said he suspected that the charges against him related to how he came to be in possession of classified police information, which he used to open cases against police officers.
“Where’s the crime? We have since taken the matter where it belongs. We are before the Western Cape High Court. Why now, when the South African Police Service finds itself before the court, do they issue a statement?
Why did they try to hunt me down like a bank robber? We will see the police services in court tomorrow [Wednesday] morning. The judge will make a determination on the lawfulness of this warrant and the lawfulness of their action,” said Adams.
However, according to Mathe, the warrant relates to allegations that he interfered with ongoing investigations into the murder of the late ANC Youth League leader, Sindiso Magaqa.
Image provided (NCC leader Fadiel Adams recorded inside the back of SAPS Van in Cape Town, before his transfer to KwaZulu-Natal for court appearance.)
