By Johnathan Paoli
Explosive testimony before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry reignited questions about whether crucial omissions in a police ballistics report on the murder of Armand Swart were the result of mere “typing errors” or a calculated attempt to sabotage the investigation.
Senior counsel Michael Chaskalson, leading evidence for the commission on Monday, raised the possibility that errors in the first report by a South Africa Police Service (SAPS) analyst were not accidental, but deliberate.
“This may not be a mistake but an attempt at sabotage,” Chaskalson warned, noting that the investigating team had already voiced similar suspicions.
At the centre of the controversy is the analyst, “Captain Magotla’s” initial report, which not only failed to mention 15 AK-47 cartridges found in the possession of the Swart murder suspects, but also carried the wrong case number; a blunder that could have broken the chain of custody and fatally compromised
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