Witnesses silenced

Two men about to provide crucial information about the cash heists in which the infamous ''Captain KGB'' has been implicated have been assassinated within days of each other.

Zimbabwean Phulumani Ncube and another man identified only as Siphiwe were gunned down in July.

It is believed that they had told the police that they would testify for the prosecution in the trials of suspects in cash heists involving millions.

Both men were shot repeatedly in the head. They had been stripped naked. The Times has been reliably told that the men were giving detectives information that allegedly placed former police covert crime intelligence agent Captain Morris "KGB" Tshabalala at sites where deadly cash heists were planned and executed over three years.

Tshabalala was arrested in June and faces several charges relating to a R3-million heist in Sasolburg, in the Vaal Triangle, in February.

Several witnesses were placed in a protection programme because of fears for their safety shortly after Tshabalala's arrest.

It is understood that Ncube and Siphiwe would have been considered for witness protection.

Officers close to the investigation of Tshabalala said the murdered men had told the police that he allegedly disclosed the routes taken by cash vans, and provided police-issue firearms and radios to gang members.

He is also alleged to have kept gang members up to date on the progress of police investigations into their activities.

Siphiwe's body was found on a dump site in Protea Glen, Soweto, at the end of July.

A week later, Ncube's body was found in a Mpumalanga farmer's field, between Balfour and Heidelberg. He had been shot six times.

Ncube disappeared shortly after sending a friend an SMS in which he said that he had been arrested. His bakkie was found in Pretoria's Marabastad.

A police source said Siphiwe disappeared after receiving a telephone call from someone purporting to be a prosecutor in Tshabalala's current bail hearing.

Tshabalala, currently imprisoned for a 1994 armed robbery, will appear in the Sasolburg Magistrate's Court later this month for his alleged involvement in the Sasolburg cash heist.

Despite his criminal record, he joined the police in 2002 and rose through the ranks, becoming part of a covert crime intelligence team involved in top-security assessments of threats against the state and the president.

He was fired in June after a series of exposés in The Times.

Hawks spokesman Captain Paul Ramaloko yesterday confirmed the murders of the two witnesses.

"The investigation is incredibly sensitive. The motives are unknown."

He would not comment on links between the killings and the Captain KGB investigation.

Ramaloko said Ncube had had dealings with "certain individuals" before his death.

"I cannot say who the individuals are. I can say we have 'positive' information.

"No one has been arrested, but we have information on individuals who can shed light on our investigations," he said.

Ncube's brother, Godfrey, said he disappeared 2km from his home in Norwood, Johannesburg.

"CCTV footage from a nearby garage's camera shows him arriving to fill up a can with petrol before leaving.

"It is believed that, shortly afterwards, he was attacked and kidnapped."

He said a friend, whom his brother had dropped off in Hillbrow shortly before he disappeared, had tried to phone him.

"When he phoned the first time, he got an SMS saying Phulumani was 'busy' ... my brother never SMSed. He immediately called back and my brother SMSed that he was being arrested."

Ncube's cellphone was later switched off.

"We got the call the next day ... he was dead in a field in Mpumalanga.

"A farmer, who heard the shooting in the night and saw two bakkies driving off, found him," said Godfrey.

"The week before he was killed he was very nervous. The guards in his street told him he was being followed home, but we don't know who it was.

"This was personal ... it was not a robbery. No money was drawn from his account.''

Ncube was standing trial for attempted robbery.

Godfrey Ncube said the family believed the killing was linked to Tshabalala's court case.

"When we went to identify his body, police came to collect his docket, saying they were investigating a link between his and Siphiwe's murders, and the KGB trial."

A police source said Ncube played an important role in the investigation into Tshabalala.

"His testimony - if he had lived - could have provided the nails needed to shut this coffin."