By Johnathan Paoli
Police are investigating how far alleged irregularities in ballistic reports may have affected several high-profile murder and attempted murder cases after a senior forensic captain appeared briefly in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
Captain Laurence Makgotloe, attached to the SAPS Forensic Science Laboratory, is facing charges of defeating the ends of justice, accessory after the fact to murder, and possession of unlicensed ammunition.
Speaking outside court, SAPS national spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said investigators are still uncovering how far the alleged manipulation may have reached.
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“We are looking for answers. This is an opportunity for the captain to actually come clean and say who he was working with. Was he working with syndicates, or was he working with other people who stood to gain if they protected those syndicates and accused persons before court?” Mathe asked.
Makgotloe was arrested on Friday at his Pretoria home by the Recommendations Task Team – which investigates Madlanga Commission matters — after investigators allegedly uncovered serious discrepancies in ballistic reports linked to several murders and attempted murders.
Police said officers found ballistic reports and ammunition at his residence during the raid.
The investigation stems partly from the April 2024 assassination of engineer Armand Swart, who was killed in a hail of bullets in Vereeniging.
Mathe said organised crime investigators quickly arrested suspects linked to the assassination and recovered firearms, including an AK-47 rifle and pistols allegedly used in the murder.
Those firearms were initially analysed at the SAPS Forensic Science Laboratory in Silverton, Tshwane, where Makgotloe allegedly compiled a report that failed to connect the weapons to other crimes.
“Upon completion of that particular report, there were glaring mistakes and errors that were noted. It is unusual, with the experience of Captain Makgotloe, that he would make such glaring mistakes and would not link these firearms to other cases,” Mathe said.
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According to the brigadier, two Gauteng organised crime investigators became suspicious after intelligence suggested the suspects were linked to numerous violent crimes despite the ballistic report showing no broader connections.
The investigators pushed for an independent review, with the firearms later sent to the Amanzimtoti Forensic Science Laboratory.
“Those firearms were then linked to 30 serious and violent cases, the majority of them being murder and attempted murder,” Mathe said.
Police then sought a further review from the Eastern Cape Forensic Science Laboratory, which allegedly confirmed the findings.
Mathe said the firearms were subsequently linked to the murders of DJ Sumbody, DJ Vintos, Swart and Don Tindleni, as well as attempted murder cases involving taxi boss Joe Sibanyoni and others.
“So it then gave the investigators an indication that the initial report that was worked on by Captain Makgotloe had glaring mistakes and a lot of errors. We do believe that by him misrepresenting the report and manipulating the report, then he should, together with those suspects or accused, be charged,” she said.
Mathe warned that compromised forensic work had the potential to collapse major criminal prosecutions.
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“In the value chain, a ballistics expert plays a very crucial role. When a ballistics expert fails to provide true and accurate forensic findings, it derails investigations. Misrepresentation and failing to correctly analyse exhibits leads investigators to being misled, compromises investigations, and means perpetrators evade justice,” she said.
Mathe praised the two organised crime investigators whose insistence on independent testing allegedly exposed the discrepancies.
“If they were not determined, if they did not persist for a second opinion on those firearms, a lot of cases would have remained unsolved. All these perpetrators would have evaded justice,” she said.
The matter has been postponed to 2 June for a formal bail application.
