The Madlanga Commission has heard how suspended Deputy National Commissioner of Police, Lt-Gen Shadrack Sibiya, was not happy that police did not detain Katiso Molefe at a local police station after arresting him at his Sandhurst house in Sandton last December.
This information was revealed by Witness A on Tuesday at the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into criminality, political interference, and corruption in the criminal justice system.
Tuesday’s proceedings at the Brigitte Mabandla Justice College in Pretoria were held partially in camera.
Witness A testimony
Witness A, who is a detective of the SAPS’ organised crime unit, is testifying about his experiences as a detective investigating crimes related to the criminal cartels. This forms part of the subject of the commission’s investigations. And it also probes attempts that have been made to interfere with these investigations.
His testimony was led by evidence leader Adv Lee Seegels-Ncube. Witness A said after Molefe’s arrest for the murder of Vereeniging engineer Armand Swart, he received a call from a member of the public. The person said: “The person you arrested is a person of the generals. You are fighting the generals by arresting Molefe…”
“The call I received shows that Molefe has influence on some generals…,” said Witness A.
Witness A added that a day after Molefe’s arrest, on December 7 2024, he received a call from his office. The call was from Col Mokoena.
He said Mokoena asked him who they arrested in Sandhurst on December 6 2024. He also asked where the person is detained.
“I told him [Mokoena] that Katiso Molefe was arrested and we detained him at Pretoria Central Police Station. He asked me why Molefe was not detained at a local police station. And I gave him the reasons why…
Questions about Molefe’s detention
“He [Mokoena] said the problem now is that General [Shadrack] Sibiya had just called him. He is asking where Molefe was arrested and why he was detained. Sibiya asked why Molefe was not detained at a local police station. He told me Sibiya was not happy that we took Molefe away from a local police station…,” said Witness A.
Witness A said he viewed the call from Mokoena and Sibiya’s statements as “interference” in police investigations.
“The call from Mokoena to me and the call from Sibiya to Mokoena. Both paint a picture of interference and pressure from somewhere…,” said Witness A.
Swart worked at Q Tech Engineering Company based in Vereeniging. He 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.
Former SAPS detective Michael Pule Tau (55) and alleged hitmen Musa Kekana (35), Tiego Floyd Mabusela (47) were arrested in April last year for Swart’s murder.
Molefe (61) was arrested and charged with the murder of Swart in December last year.
Out on bail, rearrested, then out again
Tau, Kekana and Mabusela remain in police custody after not bringing a bail application.
Molefe was granted R100, 000 bail in June by the Pretoria High Court.
He had earlier been denied bail by the Vereeniging Magistrate’s Court. The Pretoria High Court later granted him bail upon appeal.
In July he was rearrested for the murder of Oupa John Sefoka, aka DJ Sumbody. He was later granted R400, 000 bail by the Johannesburg High Court on October 10 after appealing the Alexandra Magistrate’s Court decision that denied him bail.
Witness A is testifying at the commission’s hearings held partially in camera. The witness is testifying off camera from a remote location, but his voice is audible for the public.
Witness A’s name and face were not disclosed during Tuesday’s proceedings.
The commission is chaired by retired Constitutional Court Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga. He ruled that the commission’s hearings from Monday to Wednesday will hear testimony from Witnesses A, B, and C. They will be heard in partially in-camera hearings.
Madlanga said the three witnesses will testify off camera at a remote location. But their voices will be audible to the public, and the media will be seated in the Brigitte Mabandla Justice College auditorium.
The commission resumes on Wednesday at 9.30am with the testimony of Witness B.
