Weapons used in the assassination of engineer Armand Swart and those used in attempted murder cases linked to Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala have been traced to about 30 more cases, a detective testified at the Madlanga commission on Thursday.
The detective, whose identity is being withheld for safety reasons, testified about criminal syndicate infiltration in the police service and shared evidence of what officers found while investigating the assassination of Swart.
Swart, an engineer at the company QTech, was shot 23 times in Vereeniging on April 17 2024. His murder was linked to a whistle-blower report about SK Group price hikes in a tender (linked to Katiso Molefe) with Transnet.
Former officer Michael Pule Tau, Tiego Mabusela and Musa Kekana were arrested and charged with the murder hours after the shooting. Business person Katiso “KT” Molefe, who allegedly hired the hitmen for the assassination, was arrested last December and released on R400,000 bail this month.
The witness told the commission the police have managed to link the accused through confirmed ballistic reports to five other murders. The victims of the five murders are Oupa John Sefoka, known as DJ Sumbody; his two bodyguards, Walter Mokoena and Sandile Myeza; Hector Buthelezi, known as DJ Vintos; and Don Tindleni.
“All these victims were brutally killed. For those who know how brutally Swart was killed, with these the modus operandi was exactly the same,” she said.
She contended the accused could likely be linked to more cases through ballistic analysis.
She said Mabusela and Kekana have been linked to 11 counts of attempted murder cases allegedly organised by Matlala, including the attempted murder of taxi boss Joe Sibanyoni. She said Tau, “an experienced shooter”, was not involved in the attempted murder cases.
“Since the Swart murder and the recovery of the firearms, the ballistic hits in total, it might be more, is 30,” she said.
Since the Swart murder and the recovery of the firearms, the ballistic hits in total, it might be more, is 30.
— Detective
She said by ballistic hits she meant the weapons were linked to 30 different cases.
Molefe and Matlala are said to be part of the “Big Five” cartel allegedly involved in drug trafficking, extortion, cross-border vehicle hijacking, cross-border vehicle theft and tender fraud.
The witness told the commission the police were still looking for one more suspect in the Swart murder case, Molefe’s nephew Lucky Molefe, who has been in hiding since last December. Lucky Molefe has been linked to the murder through his involvement in the SK Group tender. He worked at Transnet.
The witness also testified that Katiso’s partner drove a car registered to Sedibeng acting police commissioner Brig Mbangwa Nkhwashu when she went to a court hearing in April.
On Tuesday, she said Nkhwashu told her that he was a “suspect” in Katiso’s case and stopped her from giving him the Swart murder docket.
Nkhwashu also tried to visit Katiso in prison but was not allowed by prison officials because it was after visiting hours, the commission heard.
The Swart murder investigation has been “extremely difficult” and life-threatening for her and her colleague, identified as Witness A.
“We know very well it is very easy to be killed in this situation where some of your own [police officers] are involved because we know each other,” she said.
She applauded KwaZulu-Natal provincial commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi for speaking out about interference in the SA Police Service.
“I am not saying now that it has happened [the public briefing], we are not going to die, but I will die peacefully knowing I was doing the right thing and the whole country knows what I died for,” she said.
“I hope through the hard work of the commission, we will see change and accountability. As much as we got the opportunity to tell the commission of our encounters, we are not the only ones. Maybe we are the mouthpiece for the rest of the police officers who are striving to do the right thing.”
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