A detective who was part of the team that investigated the murder of Vereeniging engineer Armand Swart on Monday told the Madlanga commission he was warned the suspects were connected to “dangerous people”.
He detailed a meeting he attended with his colleagues at the Pretoria office of Gauteng crime investigation services head Maj-Gen Richard Shibiri.
Swart, an employee at Q Tech Engineering based in Vereeniging, died in a hail of bullets in April 2024 in a hit-style shooting meant for a colleague involved in reporting corruption at Transnet.
Witness A’s identity is being withheld due to the sensitive nature of the investigations he is involved in.
A detective stationed at Johannesburg Central police station, W/O Michael Pule Tau, was arrested in connection with Swart’s murder, along with two other suspects: Musa Kekana and Tlego Floyd Mabusela.
During the meeting with Shibiri, they were told the arrested men were connected to people who are dangerous, including the late notorious taxi owner Jonathan “King Mswazi” Msibi.
He said there were three envelopes floating around that were on offer for the suspects to get bail. He said one of the envelopes will be for the investigating officers, one will be for the magistrate and the last one will be for the prosecutor
— Witness A
Witness A said Shibiri told them bribe money was on offer for the suspects to be released on bail pending trial.
“He said there were three envelopes floating around that were on offer for the suspects to get bail. He said one of the envelopes will be for the investigating officers, one will be for the magistrate and the last one will be for the prosecutor,” said the witness.
He also testified that the trio are allegedly linked to Katiso “KT” Molefe, who is accused of the murder of Pretoria club owner Oupa John Sefoka, better known as DJ Sumbody.
Witness A said Tau, the arrested policeman, had been in communication with Molefe days before the murder. He alleged they found out Tau had also been surveilling Swart’s home while driving a Mercedes-Benz Viano, which was spotted on CCTV footage several times, days before the murder.
Tau had also visited Molefe’s house, and they exchanged messages.
After Swart’s murder, he said Tau sent Molefe a message saying: “Morning, Abuthi re shap neh (brother, we’re OK)”.
The commission continues.
TimesLIVE
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