By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Madlanga Commission of Inquiry into allegations of criminality, political interference and corruption in the criminal justice system continued with the hearings with a new witness on the stand.
To date, five witnesses have testified before the commission, including SAPS intelligence head Dumisani Khumalo; KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi; National police commissioner Fannie Masemola; and Petronella Margaretha van Rooyen, head of legal services in the police.
KZN Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Elaine Harrison, has also given her evidence.
Most of the witnesses have corroborated one another’s evidence, confirming that Police Minister Senzo Mchunu’s directive to disband the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT) exceeded his mandate.
In today’s hearings, the commission chair Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga ruled that witnesses A, B and C, all members of the Gauteng Organised Crime Unit probing criminal cartels in Gauteng, would testify remotely.
Advocate Lee Segeels-Ncube led Witness A’s evidence on Monday, fellow evidence leader Mahlape Sello told the commission that the witnesses’ anonymity was essential for their safety.
Witness A detailed a chain of cellphone communications between former warrant officer Michael Pule Tau and Sandton businessman Katiso “KT” Molefe, whom he claimed set the deadly plot in motion.
Witness A, told the commission that in May 2024 after the murder of Armand Swart — an engineer believed to be a whistleblower — he was invited by a colleague, Vusi Ndlala, to a party at what he described as “the white house on the hill”.
The commission heard that phone records and messages between police officer Tau and Molefe linked the businessman to the planning of Swart’s murder.
The gathering was attended by several high-ranking officers, including the head of the national organised crime unit Richard Shibiri.
Witness A said he was surprised to find himself in a social setting with senior officials, prompting him to phone a colleague, identified as Witness B, to ask whether the party might have been connected to his ongoing investigation into the murder of Swart.
“The only conclusions I could come to were that General Shibiri asked Ndlala to invite us. I now think it might have been part of the plan to test us — whether we were open to undue influence, especially since Witness B [had] posed a question [previously] to Shibiri about what he is doing about the corruption in the police, “Witness A said.
Witness A said, a week later, he was invited by Ndlala to another party, which he could not attend due to other commitments. He told the commission that a police colleague later informed him that two senior officers had joined Shibiri at that second event — Gauteng provincial commissioner Tommy Mthombeni and Mbangwa Khwashu, deputy commissioner in the Sedibeng district.
“I suspected that the second invitation was another attempt to see if this colleague of mine and I could be influenced. If I had been in Joburg, I likely would have gone to the party with this colleague of mine,” Witness A said.
Tau was arrested for Swart’s murder alongside Musa Kekana and Tiego Mabusela, while Molefe was later arrested.
Mabusela and Kekana also face attempted murder charges in the October 2023 hit on actress Tebogo Thobejane, the ex-girlfriend of Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala. Matlala has also been charged for the attempted murder and was named by Mkhwanazi as another of the alleged Big Five (the other three haven’t been named while investigations continue).
On the day of Swart’s murder, investigators recovered 15 cartridges at the scene. When Witness A and his colleague arrived, they were informed by the SAPS that three suspects had already been arrested in a Mercedes-Benz Viano.
The commission has adjourned until Tuesday morning. Witness will continue to testify.