By Johnathan Paoli
The Madlanga commission on Tuesday continued hearing how the murder investigation into Q-Tech engineer Armand Swart was repeatedly obstructed by other law enforcement units, including officers from the Hawks, Crime Intelligence, and even Metro Police, according to gripping testimony by Witness A.
Witness A, an organised crime investigator, detailed how his team’s work was undermined and interfered with from multiple sides as they pursued suspects linked to a multimillion-rand Transnet tender fraud that allegedly led to Swart’s assassination in April 2024.
“It is unheard of that the officials from different divisions and units would arrive at a private residence where a takedown of an operation is underway and attempt to interfere in that operation,” he said.
Before delving into the major incidents of interference, Witness A clarified that his superior, Major-General Richard Shibiri, had warned him and his colleague, Witness B, that a Hawks officer known as Zungu might obstruct their work.
That warning later proved prophetic.
When a suspect in the Swart case, Vusimusi “Cat” Matlala, was arrested, his phone was found to contain communications with Zungu.
The same number was again discovered on Matlala’s prison cellphone, confirming, Witness A said, that the organised crime unit’s activities were being monitored from within law enforcement itself.
“It showed us that what General Shibiri had said was true,” Witness A testified.
The most alarming interference, Witness A said, occurred during the arrest of businessman Katiso Molefe, identified by investigators as the suspected mastermind behind Swart’s killing, at his Sandhurst mansion on 6 December 2024.
What began as a coordinated, lawful takedown operation quickly descended into chaos as Hawks officers unexpectedly arrived at the scene, demanding details of the case.
“They wanted to know what we were doing there and insisted on getting the case number. They claimed they had been sent by their national head, General Godfrey Lebeya. It was very unusual,” Witness A said.
He identified one of the officers as a “Captain Kruger”, who refused to back down despite being told the operation was authorised and legitimate.
As tensions mounted outside Molefe’s property, the investigators were further alarmed when a helicopter began hovering overhead.
Initially assumed to be a police aircraft sent to assist, it was later discovered to be a Johannesburg traffic department helicopter, dispatched following a report of “bogus police” at the scene.
“The atmosphere was very tense; we felt that our safety was in danger and that someone was trying to undermine the operation,” Witness A said.
The officers, already facing potential armed resistance from Molefe’s private security, now feared that their own colleagues had mobilised against them.
Following Molefe’s arrest, Witness A said further interference continued at higher levels.
He received a call from a contact warning that he had just “arrested a person of the generals”; a veiled reference to Molefe’s alleged protection within senior police circles.
Subsequent intelligence linked a Johannesburg Metro Police officer, identified as Johnny Mogatle, to the chaos that unfolded during Molefe’s arrest.
Molefe admitted later that he had called Mogatle because he was “scared” and believed the operation was a hit against him.
Witness A later learned that Brigadier Mbangwa Nkhwashu, then acting Sedibeng district commissioner, had “sneaked into prison” using an unmarked vehicle to visit Molefe; further evidence, he said, of an organised effort within law enforcement to monitor or influence the investigation.
The interference did not stop there.
After Molefe’s detention at Pretoria Central Police Station, Witness A said his superiors pressured him to justify why the suspect was not held at a local station.
He was told that Deputy National Police Commissioner Shadrack Sibiya was “not happy” that Molefe’s family could not locate him.
Later, General Shibiri confided to Witness A that Sibiya had repeatedly demanded briefings on the Swart investigation; requests that Shibiri believed were not for the benefit of the National Commissioner but “for the other side”.
Witness A’s testimony continues.
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