EFF leader Julius Malema has come out swinging in defense of National Coloured Congress MP Fadiel Adams, calling his arrest “inhumane and disrespectful” and drawing a direct parallel to how the apartheid regime treated anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko.
Adams was arrested on 5 May 2026 at the Pelican Park Parliamentary Village in Cape Town by the South African Police Service Political Killings Task Team. Police say the arrest relates to allegations of fraud and defeating the ends of justice, linked to interference in the 2017 murder investigation of ANC Youth League secretary-general Sindiso Magaqa. Authorities claim Adams interfered with a convicted hitman at a sensitive stage of the probe and failed to hand himself over despite arrangements made with his legal team.
Within hours of the arrest, Malema posted on X with a photo of Adams behind bars in what appears to be a police van. “This is wrong in all respects. That’s what the apartheid regime did to Steve Biko,” Malema wrote. “It might be nice to your ears and eyes for now but this is inhumane and disrespectful. Who’s this guy? A murderer or an honorable member of parliament who went about doing what he’s elected to do?”
The EFF leader didn’t hold back, questioning the legitimacy of the arrest and framing it as a political act rather than a criminal one. For Malema, the optics of an elected MP being “frog-marched” to a police van echo a darker chapter in South Africa’s history, when dissenting voices were silenced through force rather than due process.
Adams, who leads the National Coloured Congress, has denied any wrongdoing. He said he had written to police three weeks ago indicating he was willing to cooperate but asked that the Political Killings Task Team not be sent to his home. He also accused KZN Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi of targeting him in retaliation for his public criticism of Crime Intelligence leadership.
SAPS spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said officers had made multiple attempts to locate Adams at several addresses before effecting the arrest. Police maintain that a J50 warrant was issued and that Adams was scheduled to appear in a KwaZulu-Natal court on Monday but didn’t show up.
Adams now faces charges tied to one of South Africa’s most high-profile political killings. Magaqa was shot in an ambush in Umzimkhulu in 2017 and later died in hospital, with the case widely linked to municipal tender disputes and corruption in KZN.
The arrest has already split opinion. Supporters of Adams argue the charges are a smokescreen to silence a vocal critic of police leadership, while others say no one is above the law, regardless of parliamentary status.
Malema’s intervention is significant given the EFF’s own rocky history with law enforcement and its frequent clashes with the SAPS over what it calls selective prosecution. By invoking Steve Biko, Malema is positioning the arrest not just as a legal matter but as a test of constitutional rights and parliamentary immunity.
Adams is expected to appear in a KZN court soon. Whether Malema’s defense will translate into political capital or legal consequences remains to be seen.
