Suspended Sedibeng South African Police Service (Saps) District Commissioner Mbangwa Nkhwashu has confirmed his link to murder-accused Katiso ‘KT’ Molefe.
Nkhwashu testified at the Madlanga commission on Wednesday, addressing allegations by Witness B that he interfered in the investigation into the murder of Vereeniging engineer Armand Swart.
30-year-old Swart, an employee at Q Tech Engineering Company based in Vereeniging, was shot and killed while seated in his vehicle outside his workplace by two suspects who were driving a white Hyundai i20 on 17 April 2024. He sustained multiple gunshot wounds and was declared dead on the scene.
It was reported that the suspects orchestrated the assassination in order to silence him after he blew the whistle about fraud and corruption linked to a Transnet tender contract.
However, some reports say it was a case of mistaken identity.
Four men – Sandton businessman Katiso ‘KT’ Molefe, former police detective Michael Pule Tau, Musa Kekana and Tiego Floyd Mabusela – have been arrested in connection with the case.
KT Molefe is ‘my brother-in-law’
Nkhwashu confirmed to the Madlanga commission that KT Molefe is his brother-in-law, as he is married to the former wife of his wife’s late younger brother.
“Fundiswa came to tell us in 2005 that this guy [Molefe] she met wanted to marry her. And then in 2021, the guy paid lobola and married her,” he said.
He said he was not part of the lobola delegation because he did not approve of the marriage, as Molefe was already married. As a result, he only met Molefe in June 2024, four years after the marriage.
“Fundiswa gave me a call and requested a meeting with me. We made arrangements to meet, and we finally met at a restaurant in Alberton,” explained Nkhwashu.
“When I met Katiso, we conversed generally about our respective personal circumstances. After he was introduced to me by my sister-in-law, he mentioned that he was involved in various business interests, including the security sector.
“As part of a general discussion about future plans, I indicated that I was approaching retirement from the Saps. The discussion remained informal and exploratory, to the extent that he told me he had a big tender and wanted security forces to come and work there. So, should I be interested, when I retire, I can just go and work with him in that space, with my experience as a police officer. Then I accepted and said I would be interested, but we would talk because there are processes to go through.”
Armand Swart murder
Nkhwashu said Molefe further told him a friend of his had been arrested. Molefe needed to know if the state would oppose bail, as he wanted to pay the bail money for his friend.
“I told him right away, in actual fact, I just stopped him and said, ‘I don’t talk about cases with anyone, not even my wife. If he wanted us to have some relationship, my work is off limits, and we don’t talk about my cases’. So he did not mention the name of the friend yet.
“A few days later, I attended a social gathering with my colleagues in the Saps. The gathering was attended mainly by the police officers with whom we normally come together, including Sergeant Tshukudu.
“Tshukudu and I have been friends since around 2017. We often discuss both professional and personal matters, and we attend social gatherings together. During the gathering, Sergeant Tshukudu and the colleagues mentioned that they were around my area of work and they were escorting suspects from court. There was a police officer suspect, who we got to know as Michael Pule Tau.
“As the conversation went on, it triggered my mind that they are talking about the case that my brother-in-law Katiso was intending to lure me to assist him in the bail of this particular person. So, I put the puzzle together to say, oh, this is where Katiso was coming to.”
‘I never sent him’
Nkhwashu said he told his colleagues about his suspicions that the case in question may have been the same one Molefe was talking about. He said he told his colleagues he could not assist Molefe with it. However, he was “surprised” to later learn that Tshukudu approached Witness B about the case.
“I never asked him to do so. I never asked him to convey any message to Witness B, whether about opposing bail or about thanking her. If Tshukudu told Witness B or anyone else that I sent him, he did so with his own accord. It was not with my knowledge nor my permission that he’s going to consult with Witness B.
“I deny that I improperly attempted to interfere in Tau’s bail proceedings and I specifically deny that I instructed or requested or authorised Sergeant Tshukudu to contact Witness B or any other person regarding Tau’s bail. I did not ask Tshukudu to find out whether the state will oppose bail, I did not ask him to plead for bail.”
‘No improper purpose’
Nkhwashu said his 26 years of experience as a detective have taught him how bail is granted.
“I wouldn’t have sent a sergeant to go and talk to a sergeant to request bail or ask anything about a case or bail.”
He further denied demanding the Swart murder docket for any personal interest or improper purpose.
“I was acting on instruction from the provincial commissioner to collect all case dockets that had J50 warrant of arrest and to submit them to the deputy provincial commissioner of detective services, Major General Khumalo.
“General Khumalo was to oversee those investigations as directed by the Premier of Gauteng, Mr Panyaza Lesufi. The instructions were not limited to the Katiso case. It applied to many dockets from all five districts in Gauteng.”
Nkhwashu said anything he did with Molefe, including prison visits, he did as a brother-in-law, not a police officer.
