Madlanga Commission Exposes Alarming Link Between Police and Alleged Hitman in Katiso Molefe Case

Madlanga Commission Exposes Alarming Link Between Police and Alleged Hitman in Katiso Molefe Case

In one of the most unsettling revelations yet from the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry, a police officer has been implicated as a hitman working hand-in-hand with a criminal syndicate allegedly linked to controversial businessman Katiso “KT” Molefe.

The testimony, delivered by a detective known only as Witness A, painted a grim picture of a justice system where law enforcers crossed the line, from protectors of the public to participants in organised crime.

A Murder Mistaken for Another Man

The case centres on the murder of Armand Swart, an employee of a Vereeniging engineering company. Swart was gunned down in April 2024 after hitmen allegedly mistook him for his boss, a man whose company had reportedly uncovered a 4,650% overpricing scheme on engineering parts supplied to Transnet.

What was initially treated as a targeted corporate assassination quickly unravelled into something far more sinister: a criminal web tying businessmen, hitmen, and police officers together.

Cellphones, CCTV, and Car Tracking, The Trail of Evidence

Testifying before the commission, Witness A detailed how cellphone records, CCTV footage, and car-tracking data pieced together the movements of the suspects in the days leading up to Swart’s murder.

At the centre of it all was Warrant Officer Michael Pule Tau, a serving police officer whose phone records showed frequent communication with Molefe.

Tau’s Mercedes-Benz Viano, according to tracking data, was seen visiting Molefe’s home and later captured on CCTV scouting the area where Swart worked, just a day before the shooting.

The detective’s testimony, partially held in camera to protect his identity, revealed the shocking extent of Tau’s involvement. “When we arrived at the scene, three individuals were already under arrest,” Witness A recalled. “One of them identified himself as a police officer, Michael Pule Tau.”

A Web of Crime Unfolds

The suspects arrested included Tau, Musa Kekana, and Tiego Floyd Mabusela all of whom are now charged alongside Molefe. Several cellphones, including a burner phone designed to avoid tracing, were recovered at the scene, along with a Mercedes-Benz rim, 15 used cartridges, and a firearm believed to be linked to the killing.

Follow-up raids led police to multiple addresses, including Kekana’s home in Bramley and Mabusela’s residence in Kliprivier, where further evidence was seized.

The Bigger Picture: From DJ Sumbody to Swart

Molefe’s name is already well-known in criminal circles. The businessman is out on R400,000 bail for his alleged involvement in the murder of popular musician DJ Sumbody, killed in a drive-by shooting in 2022. The latest revelations deepen concerns that Molefe’s influence stretches far beyond business, potentially into law enforcement itself.

This convergence of cases, both violent and high-profile, has stirred public outrage online. Social media users have called the revelations “a window into South Africa’s broken policing system,” while others have demanded that the government “purge dirty cops once and for all.”

A Nation Confronts Its Deepening Crisis

The Madlanga Commission, established by President Cyril Ramaphosa in July 2024, is tasked with investigating allegations of collusion and corruption between politicians, police, prosecutors, and elements of the judiciary accusations first raised by KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.

While South Africans have grown accustomed to reports of corruption, the suggestion that a police officer moonlighted as a hitman has shaken public confidence in law enforcement to its core.

For many citizens, this isn’t just about one murder, it’s about the erosion of a system meant to uphold justice. As one commentator put it on X (formerly Twitter): “If cops are working for hitmen, who protects the rest of us?”

The Hearing Continues

As the commission resumes, South Africans are watching closely. Witness A’s testimony may only be the beginning of a much deeper exposé of how organised crime has infiltrated the country’s security structures.

If proven, the case could become a watershed moment, forcing government to confront not just corruption, but the collapse of integrity within its most trusted institutions.

For now, the Madlanga Commission continues its work, piecing together the threads of betrayal, power, and blood money that have turned parts of South Africa’s policing system against the very people it was meant to protect.

{Source: IOL}

Follow Joburg ETC on Facebook, Twitter , TikTok and Instagram

For more News in Johannesburg, visit joburgetc.com