Hawks Accused of Derailing Molefe Raid as Witness A Spills Explosive Details at Madlanga Commission

Hawks Under Fire: Witness Reveals How Police Helicopter and Interference Nearly Halted Molefe Raid

The Madlanga Commission has once again peeled back the layers of South Africa’s underworld and exposed what appears to be a troubling overlap between crime and law enforcement.

This week, a whistleblower known only as Witness A testified that the Hawks (DPCI) and Gauteng Traffic Police disrupted a high-stakes raid at the luxury Sandhurst home of alleged underworld businessman Katiso “KT” Molefe late last year. The revelation paints a disturbing picture of how power, privilege, and policing can collide in ways that undermine justice.

A Night of High Drama in Sandhurst

According to Witness A, the December operation was meant to execute a search and seizure linked to the murder of Armand Swart, a whistleblower whose death rattled state entities and hinted at a wider web of corruption.

What should have been a straightforward raid turned chaotic.

As officers began their search, a police helicopter suddenly appeared above the mansion, circling so low that the team feared for their safety.

“It was a police traffic helicopter hovering so low over his house, we had to report it and call for reinforcements,” Witness A told the commission.

The aircraft was later confirmed to have been flown by Chief Provincial Inspector George Raftopoulos, who claimed he was responding to a Hawks complaint about “bogus police” raiding Molefe’s home.

To the astonishment of investigators, the Hawks’ own involvement soon followed. Officials allegedly sent by then-DPCI head Lt-Gen Godfrey Lebeya arrived at the scene, demanding case details and attempting to take control of the operationmoves that the officers on-site firmly rejected.

“It became clear Molefe had reach,” said Witness A. “The helicopter, the Hawks’ sudden interferenceit didn’t feel like we were dealing with an ordinary businessman.”

A Cache of Documents and Disturbing Discoveries

Despite the chaos, the raid uncovered an alarming paper trail. Inside Molefe’s home, officers reportedly found:

• Tender documents and registration papers tied to Transnet

• Files from SK Group, a company supplying Transnet Freight Rail

• A page filled with repeated forged signatures, suggesting possible document falsification

Molefe distanced himself from the evidence, claiming the materials belonged to his son and nephew, Lucky Molefe, a Transnet employee responsible for procurement.

“He denied everything,” Witness A recalled. “But there was too much paper too much to ignore.”

The police are now said to be searching for Lucky Molefe in connection with Swart’s murder, a move that deepens the mystery surrounding the Molefe family’s ties to state contracts.

A Chilling Warning Call

In one of the hearing’s most startling moments, Witness A revealed receiving a phone call during the raid from a saved contact. The voice on the line delivered a cryptic warning:

“Now you’ve arrested a person of the Generals.”

The witness said the message sent shivers through the team. No clarification has yet been provided about which “General” was being referenced, whether from the police, military, or another powerful entity.

Hawks, Matlala, and the Shadow of State Capture

Adding to the intrigue, Witness A claimed that investigators later uncovered communication between a DPCI official known only as “Zungu” and Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala, a businessman with a long history of controversial state tenders. Matlala’s phone reportedly contained messages linking him to figures implicated in Swart’s killing.

These connections have reignited fears that parts of the Hawks, originally established to fight corruption, may themselves have been compromised.

Public sentiment on social media has been scathing. Many South Africans have expressed disbelief that elite law enforcement units could be entangled in obstructing justice.

“Every week it’s another commission, another cover-up,” wrote one X (formerly Twitter) user. “The people we trust to clean up corruption seem to be swimming in it.”

A Broader Crisis of Trust

For many observers, the Molefe saga mirrors the State Capture era, where corporate influence blurred the lines between public duty and private interest. The allegations of Hawks interference suggest that those patterns may never have fully disappeared.

Molefe, who remains out on bail, has not been formally charged. Yet the gravity of the testimony heard by the Madlanga Commission this week has already stirred public anger and political debate.

The commission continues to probe the connections between business figures, rogue police operations, and the shadow networks that appear to thrive under South Africa’s fragile institutions.

As Witness A put it, “We thought we were raiding a businessman’s home. But that night, it felt like we had stepped into something much bigger, something that reaches all the way up.”

{Source: IOL}

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