The South African Police Service (SAPS) ballistics report of the murder of Vereeniging engineer Armand Swart was not tampered with, but it was riddled with glaring mistakes.
This information was revealed by Brigadier Mishak Mkhabela on Monday at the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Criminality, Political Interference, and Corruption in the Criminal Justice System.
The Brigitte Mabandla Justice College in Pretoria hosted an open session for Monday’s proceedings.
Mkhabela, who is a ballistics expert from the SAPS, is the national head of the ballistics section at the forensic science laboratory in Silverton, Pretoria.
His testimony was led by the commission’s chief evidence leader Advocate Matthew Chaskalson SC.
Mkhabela testified that he received a visit from investigating officers in Swart’s murder case at his Pretoria offices on January 8.
Mistaken for a whistleblower
Swart, who worked at Q Tech Engineering Company based in Vereeniging, was shot and killed outside his workplace on April 17, 2024.
He was killed when the alleged hitmen mistook him for another employee, who is a whistleblower.
“They [investigating officers] complained about the ballistic report of the ballistic analyst [a Captain Makgotloe]. They said he omitted results in his report.
“I asked them for the analyst’s ballistic report, and upon perusing the report, indeed there were typing errors.
“The finding of the 15 AK47 cartridge casings was not done. Upon receiving their complaint, I investigated the complaint and through the investigation, it was revealed that the analyst’s report was wrong.
“The mistakes were glaring. It cannot be interpreted as tampering. When he transferred the ballistic results into the affidavit, there were errors made with the paragraphs,” said Mkhabela.
During his testimony last week, Witness A said when he went through the ballistics report of Swart’s murder, there were omissions in the report, and it made no mention of the 15 cartridges that were sent to a lab in Pretoria.
Suspects linked to serious crimes
Meanwhile, Mkhabela said the four firearms that were seized in Bramley, Johannesburg, from three suspects arrested for Swart’s murder are linked to about 29 serious crimes of murder and attempted murder.
The three suspects on the day of Swart’s murder had four firearms seized, including an AK47 and three pistols.
Former SAPS detective Michael Pule Tau (55) and alleged hitmen Musa Kekana (35) and Tiego Floyd Mabusela (47) were arrested in April 2024 for Swart’s murder.
Katiso “KT” Molefe (61) was arrested and charged with the murder of Swart in December 2024.
Kekana and Mabusela were denied bail last year, but Tau received bail. He was placed under house arrest in July last year and rearrested two months later after violating his bail conditions.
Molefe was granted R100 000 bail in June by the Pretoria High Court. Earlier, he had been denied bail by the Vereeniging Magistrate’s Court, but the Pretoria High Court later granted him bail upon appeal.
DJ Sumbody’s murder
Meanwhile, in July, Molefe was rearrested for the murder of club owner and musician Oupa John Sefoka, also known as DJ Sumbody.
He was later granted R400 000 bail by the Johannesburg High Court on October 10 after appealing the Alexandra Magistrate’s Court’s decision that denied him release on bail.
The commission resumes on Tuesday with the testimony of a witness who will testify remotely but on camera.
