The Alexandra Magistrates’ Court denied the bail applications of Katiso “KT” Molefe and his three fellow accused in the Oupa “DJ Sumbody” Sefoka murder case on Wednesday, 20 August, after finding strengthened links among the four accused, a pattern of telecoms activity around key moments in the murder, as well as unexplained cash deposits.
As magistrate Renier Boshoff put it: “There is also the statutory framework requiring that the accused must, on the balance of probabilities, show the existence of exceptional circumstances.”
A few minutes later he delivered the outcome: “His application for bail is accordingly refused.”
Molefe appeared calm and did not noticeably react to the denial of his liberty.
The State’s case
The matter before the court concerns the November 2022 Woodmead killing of Sefoka and his bodyguards, Sibusiso Mokoena and Sandile Myeza. Prosecutors allege Molefe acted as the organiser of a contract-killing scheme. He faces three counts of murder and conspiracy to commit murder, with ancillary counts related to firearms and ammunition.
The judgment captures the State’s description of the modus operandi: “The victims were killed in assassination style with AK-47 assault rifles”, Boshoff continued.
Central to the State’s case – and to the court’s refusal of bail – are communications and financial patterns said to correlate with the attacks. The ruling records cellphone activity around the events and cash movements immediately afterwards.
“In all these cases, cash deposits followed,” Boshoff said.
The court also noted substantial amounts paid into an account associated with Molefe’s company without a persuasive explanation.
Bail and then no bail – what changed?
The defence argued that the case against Molefe is circumstantial and that he was not physically present at any scene. Under Schedule 6 offences, however, the onus rests on the accused to show that exceptional circumstances justify release.
The court said the threshold had not been met. “Very importantly, the evidential link between the four accused persons in this case appears to have increased,” Boshoff said.
Read more: Joining the dots — SAPS infighting casts a long shadow
The court also weighed Molefe’s prior conduct and charges overseas, noting a UK drug‑related conviction for possession of cannabis and a separate fraud matter involving a false Lesotho passport in the name of an alias, as factors considered relevant to both culpability and flight‑risk concerns.
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/ED_569587.jpg "NPA spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane briefs the media after Katiso ‘KT’ Molefe was denied bail in the Alexandra Magistrates’ Court on 20 August 2025. (Photo: Gallo Images / Luba Lesolle)")
Boshoff also acknowledged that Molefe “was granted bail by the high court” in a separate matter – a Vereeniging case concerning the April 2024 murder of engineer Armand Swart – after a magistrates’ court refusal was overturned on appeal. What changed here, the court said, is the evidential picture now before it in the Sefoka matter.
The big picture
Molefe was arrested at his Sandton home in late July 2025 and made his first appearance in Alexandra the following day. Beyond the Sefoka docket, investigators and prosecutors have publicly outlined a broader web of linked shootings through ballistics and overlapping accused.
Police have said the firearms used in the Sefoka murders are forensically linked to other dockets, including the killing of Soweto DJ Hector “DJ Vintos” Buthelezi and the murder of Swart, as well as other cases flagged by detectives.
When police entered Molefe’s home to execute the arrest, they found none other than Patriotic Alliance deputy president Kenny Kunene on the scene. In a
style="font-weight: 400;">later interview Kunene said he was merely there to facilitate an interview with Molefe.
A separate attempted‑murder case involves television personality Tebogo Thobejane, who survived an ambush on the N1 near Sandton in October 2023. In that matter, prosecutors allege private security operator and Tembisa Hospital tender beneficiary Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala orchestrated the attempt. He faces attempted murder charges.
Two of Molefe’s co‑accused in the Sefoka docket, Musa Kekana and Tiego Floyd Mabusela, also appear as accused in the Thobejane case, and a further accused, Nthabiseng Nzama, faces a money‑laundering count.
In his explosive 6 July press conference, KwaZulu-Natal SAPS commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi alleged that Matlala was at the centre of a criminal syndicate and had ties to suspended police minister Senzo Mchunu.
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At this stage, Molefe is not charged in the Thobejane case, though it appears the nexus runs through overlapping accused and the ballistics web that investigators say ties multiple dockets together.
What next?
Molefe remains in custody. “It’s a provisional date for the indictment and you will be kept in custody,” the court said, setting 18 September for the State to serve the indictment and for the matter to be transferred accordingly.
In tandem with Molefe’s bail denial, Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, chairperson of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Criminality, Political Interference and Corruption in the Criminal Justice System, announced that hearings would begin on 1 September.
The commission – which stems from Mkhwanazi’s allegations – will hold its first hearings in public.
While Molefe was not directly named in Mkhwanazi’s allegations, he was arrested by the Political Killings Task Team, the very unit that Mkhwanazi alleged was suffering from attempts at political interference in the SAPS.
Moreover, one of Molefe’s co-accused in the Swart matter is a former SAPS detective, Michael Pule Tau. The firearms that were allegedly used in the Swart and Sefoka matters, as well as up to 10 other cases, according to the SAPS, speak exactly to the concern around “networked assassinations” that Mkhwanazi mentioned.
Whether Molefe, Matlala or the other accused appear further during those hearings remains to be seen. DM