By Johnathan Paoli
The Madlanga Commission on Tuesday delved deeper into the chain of events that led to officers from the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) descending on the Sandhurst mansion of murder-accused businessman Katiso Molefe, despite not being part of the takedown operation.
Three Hawks members, Captain Dail Nortjie, Warrant Officer Paul Radebe, and Gauteng Hawks head Major General Ebrahim Kadwa, provided lengthy testimony on why the elite unit arrived at the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT) and Special Task Force operation on 6 December 2024.
Their accounts painted a picture of cascading confusion, opaque instructions, and an untraceable report that “fake Hawks” were at the scene.
Commission chair Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, however, repeatedly stressed that the only witness who can clarify the origins of the fake Hawks claim is former Hawks head, Lieutenant General Godfrey Lebeya, who phoned subordinates shortly before the Sandhurst raid, instructing them to verify the authenticity of the operation.
Led by advocate Thabang Pooe, Captain Nortjie described receiving a call from his commander on the afternoon of 6 December, alerting him to reports that individuals impersonating Hawks members were operating at a Sandhurst residence.
The address, he said, came directly from their commander and not from national head Lebeya.
Nortjie and his team, travelling in two vehicles, arrived at 17:15.
They immediately saw uniformed officers, vests, marked vehicles, and what Nortjie said was a clearly ongoing police operation.
PKTT officer Captain Maxwell Wanda confirmed it was a legitimate arrest and search-and-seizure operation, though he declined to provide Nortjie with a case number and instead referred him to Crime Intelligence head General Dumisani Khumalo.
Nortjie maintained that the Hawks team recognised within minutes that the operation was lawful and withdrew accordingly, a position he repeated under questioning by Commissioner Sesi Baloyi, who pressed him on why Hawks members remained at the gate for nearly an hour after confirming legitimacy.
Nortjie insisted they did not interfere and were simply trying to report basic information back to superiors.
Appearing virtually due to his undercover work, Warrant Officer Radebe recounted that his team had been conducting an East Rand operation earlier that day before debriefing in Bruma, where Nortjie received the call about fake Hawks.
The officers departed for Sandton even before receiving the address, which arrived via WhatsApp en route.
On arrival, Radebe saw officers at the gate and parked near a black Mercedes-Benz.
He recognised a fellow policeman, who pointed out a man taking videos, someone Radebe knew as “Malcolm X”, a TikTok influencer known for charitable work, but also described in media reports as a well-connected political fixer.
Why he was present at the Molefe arrest remains unknown.
Radebe testified that he identified Hawks officer Captain Barry Kruger at the scene, spoke briefly to colleagues, and left within about 10 minutes.
He denied seeking case details or interfering in the operation and said he did not know the property belonged to Molefe upon arrival.
The most critical evidence came from Gauteng Hawks head Major General Ebrahim Kadwa, who confirmed that the order to verify the “fake Hawks” came directly from Lebeya.
Kadwa said he was en route to the Hawks Excellence Awards when Lebeya phoned to ask whether the Hawks were conducting an operation in Sandhurst.
Kadwa said he was not aware of any such operation and, after receiving the address from Lebeya, instructed a team to verify the information.
Kadwa testified that he did not know where Lebeya obtained the allegation that impostors were at Molefe’s home.
He said he simply assumed that, as national head, Lebeya would have performed his own due diligence before giving the instruction.
Kadwa said this was the first time in his career that Lebeya had ever phoned him to query a live police operation.
Kadwa received confirmation during the awards event that Crime Intelligence was legitimately arresting Molefe, who has been accused of masterminding the mistaken-identity murder of engineer Armand Swart.
He forwarded the verification message to Lebeya but did not recall receiving a response.
Although he insists the Hawks’ 10-minute presence did not constitute interference, Kadwa conceded in hindsight that he should have asked Lebeya for more information before deploying officers.
Madlanga confirmed that Lebeya will almost certainly be called to testify.
The commission adjourned until Wednesday morning.
INSIDE POLITICS