Associates of KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi allegedly kidnapped a fellow cop to retrieve evidence in the DJ Sumbody murder case.
These new details have emerged in the ordeal of Captain Itumeleng Makgotloe, a senior SAPS ballistics expert who was allegedly held hostage in January by rogue Special Task Force operators to obtain crucial evidence at the police’s Silverton forensics laboratory.
The alleged incident, detailed in a sworn statement for the Independent Police Investigating Directorate (IPID) investigation, is set to be examined at the hearings in the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry, starting next month.
Makgotloe’s nightmare began during what was supposed to be a routine period of leave.
Instead, he was surprised and whisked away to Loate Police Station, where he was interrogated by Special Task Force members for three hours. Their true motive, he revealed, quickly became apparent.
“All their questions were about the Vereeniging and Bramley cases. They wanted to know from me, ‘Where are the reports? When will they be finished? ‘Where are the case files?’ Their main concern was to have access to the case file,” Makgotloe said.
The grilling session, he claims, was unlawful and ended only when the officers insisted on accompanying him to the Silverton Forensic Science Laboratory, prolonging his ordeal for eight harrowing hours.
At the heart of this frenzied quest for information are two murder investigations that have sent shock waves through the country.
The Vereeniging case, still under tight wraps, revolves around the murder of engineer Armand Swart in April last year, a killing reportedly carried out in a case of mistaken identity after Swart’s company exposed a corruption syndicate.
Crucially, the same alleged perpetrators, including Katiso Molefe and his associates, are also at the centre of the Bramley docket: the assassination of Pretoria’s music mogul, DJ Sumbody, real name Oupa Sefoka.
The sprawling investigation has unearthed links to other deadly hits, including those on DJ Vintos and Don Tindleni, and reaches into a separate attempted murder case involving TV star Tebogo Thobejane, who survived an ambush near Sandton last October.
Charges in that matter have ensnared private security boss Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala, while two of Molefe’s accused co-conspirators, Musa Kekana and Tiego Floyd Mabusela, also appear in the Thobejane docket.
Investigators believe a critical ballistics thread binds these cases together. The same SAPS forensic evidence, which Makgotloe oversees, is said to be pivotal in knitting together the multiple dockets.
Insiders claim it is the reason task force members allegedly went rogue, in a desperate bid to get their hands on sensitive documents and forensics reports that could make or break prosecutions.
While minding his own business on a Tuesday afternoon on January 7, having a braai with his family, Makgotloe received a call from a specific sergeant colleague.
The sergeant told Makgotloe that he needed to make corrections on a 212 statement and sign it at the instruction of a prosecutor.
When Makgotloe informed her that he was on leave and could only assist when he returned from leave, the forceful sergeant insisted that the assistance was needed immediately.
The two eventually agreed to meet up at Loate police station. At about 18h00, the two met, but the sergeant had a surprise for the cooperating Makgotloe.
“I drove to Loate, and when I arrived, I phoned the sergeant to ask where she was, and she answered by saying, ‘Come to the Mercedes Benz V-class, black in colour,’ and I went.
“She came out from the car, with two men armed with rifles and others with small guns on their waist belts,” Makgotloe wrote in a police statement.
“All the men were not wearing police uniforms; they were in civilian clothes. And one of the men issued an instruction that we must go inside the police station, and we all did.”
In the police station, the sergeant and her heavily armed company started firing questions at Makgotloe about two specific cases, demanding access to the case file.
After three long hours of being cooked with all sorts of questions, Makgotloe wrote in his police statement that he was confused and felt that he was under interrogation, and it was like he was being grilled in a court of law as a suspect.
At around 21h00, the sergeant and her crew told Makgotloe to take them to the laboratory in Silverton, to which he responded that it was protocol that the laboratory only operated during normal office hours.
“They said they must provide feedback to their commander (Mkhwanazi) before midnight.”
Makgotloe requested to call her superior, one Brigadier Mkhabela, who informed the sergeant and her men that the laboratory was closed and informed them he would
phone “their commander” (Mkhwanazi).
Another Lt-Col Lesu, who is responsible for ballistics case management, called and informed the kidnappers that the case files they were looking for had been sent to ballistic KZN for further examination.
Determined, the kidnappers told Makgotloe they were driving to KZN with him, but along the way one asked if he had keys to his office at the laboratory, to which he responded in the affirmative.
Changing direction, they drove straight to the laboratory.
The female sergeant and the other three men forced Makgotloe to open his work computer and put in the security code and open files about two specific cases about Vereeniging and Bramley and demanded he print copies immediately.
“Sergeant Mbele took one statement and said ‘this is the statement I want.’ Then the three men said, ‘You and Mbele must stay behind and talk.’
“After two minutes, the three men returned, and the one with the rifle stood by the door.”
The officers guarding the lab premises from the gate phoned Makgotloe to enquire about his safety, and he passed the phone to his hostages, who refused to communicate with the person on the other end of the line.
“One of the guys said to me, ‘working on these kinds of cases, I will die for shit,’ and suddenly the guy who was standing by the door was pushed inside the office by police officers, and then there were many police in the building.
“I went out, as one Col Shole, who I worked with, was the one who came to my rescue at about 02:00.
“I did not give any permission (to my kidnappers) to take me by force; I request the police to investigate the matter further.”
The determined group of rogue investigators left but returned later that day during working hours and demanded Makgotloe’s laptop.
By that time, Makgotloe, the line manager, was at work, and his attempt to reason with the group that confiscating the laptop would compromise thousands of reports pertaining to other serious cases involving dangerous suspects was having no effect.
They were adamant that they were taking the laptop, as they were investigating a fraud matter.
No search and seizure warrant was produced, but they took the laptop, which was only returned after two weeks.
Police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe had not responded to questions at the time of going to print.
