By Johnathan Paoli
Suspended South African Police Service (SAPS) forensic ballistics expert Captain Laurance Makgotloe faces an additional charge of accessory after the fact to murder after the State expanded its indictment against him during a brief appearance in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.
Makgotloe’s formal bail application was postponed to Thursday after proceedings were adjourned.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has indicated it will oppose bail, citing the seriousness of the allegations against him.
Makgotloe is accused of manipulating or submitting inaccurate ballistic reports linked to the April 2024 murder of Vereeniging engineer Armand Swart.
According to the amended indictment, he now faces a charge of accessory after the fact to murder, alternatively defeating or obstructing the course of justice.
The new charge relates to a separate murder investigation from January 2018 in which a husband allegedly hired a hitman to kill his wife using his licensed firearm.
Court documents state that ballistic evidence recovered from the crime scene, including fired cartridge cases and the husband’s firearm, was assigned to Makgotloe for forensic examination.
The State alleges that Makgotloe deliberately produced unreliable expert reports that could not withstand scrutiny in court and had the potential to undermine the prosecution’s case.
According to the indictment, he failed to analyse cartridge cases submitted for examination despite reminders from the prosecutor handling the matter.
He is further accused of omitting the analysis of a bullet fragment recovered from the crime scene while falsely indicating in his report that the exhibit had been examined.
Prosecutors allege that he grouped the bullet fragment with unrelated exhibits to create the impression that the necessary forensic analysis had been conducted.
The State further contends that Makgotloe deliberately recorded incorrect seal numbers and dates in his reports, compromising the reliability of the forensic evidence.
Even after being requested to revisit and correct the reports, he allegedly retained the inaccurate information.
The indictment also alleges that Makgotloe failed to submit the firearm to the Automated Ballistic Identification System (ABIS), a database used to establish links between firearms and other shooting incidents.
According to prosecutors, this omission prevented investigators from determining whether the weapon had been used in other crimes and shielded the accused in the murder case from full forensic scrutiny.
The State argues that the alleged conduct was intended to protect murder suspects from successful prosecution and therefore amounts to accessory after the fact to murder.
The allegations form part of a broader case involving claims of misconduct relating to forensic ballistic evidence.
Makgotloe remains in custody pending the continuation of his bail application on Thursday.
His latest court appearance comes as authorities continue investigating the circumstances surrounding the murder of Armand Swart, who was killed in Vereeniging in April 2024.
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