Illustrative image: Suspended deputy national commissioner of crime detection Lieutenant General Shadrack Sibiya. (Photo: Zwelethemba Kostile / RSA Parliament) 
Shortly after Witness A and his team arrested Sandton businessman and alleged criminal Katiso “KT” Molefe on 6 December 2024 in connection with the murder of engineer Armand Swart, he received a phone call from someone who was known, but whom he didn’t want to identify.
The caller warned him: “Do you know the person you’ve arrested is the person of the generals?”
Witness A took this to mean Molefe was closely linked to South African Police Service (SAPS) leaders.
On the second day of Witness A’s testimony before the Madlanga Commission on Tuesday, 21 October 2025, more damning allegations of alleged police interference emerged in the Swart murder probe, this time implicating suspended deputy national commissioner of crime detection Lieutenant General Shadrack Sibiya.
Witness A also told the commission that while Molefe was incarcerated at Pretoria Central, Brigadier Mbangwa Nkhwashu, then acting Sedibeng district commissioner, secretly entered the prison to visit him.
Witness A also told the commission that Molefe was part of a group of five people with mining interests in North West and had ties with high-ranking police officials.
On Monday, commission chair Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga ruled that witnesses A, B and C, all members of the Gauteng Organised Crime Unit probing criminal cartels in Gauteng, would testify remotely. Their voices will be broadcast live, but their identities will remain concealed for safety reasons.
Read more: Envelopes and missing evidence — Madlanga Commission hears allegations of murder cover-up
The Madlanga Commission is hearing evidence into alleged criminality, political interference and corruption within law enforcement, following explosive claims by KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, who claimed that top officials had conspired to obstruct investigations into criminal syndicates.
Swart, an engineer at the company Q Tech, was shot and killed in Vereeniging on the morning of 17 April 2024 in what was believed to be a case of mistaken identity. He was shot after the company he worked for, Q Tech, reported corruption related to Transnet contracts.
Standoff with Hawks
On Tuesday, Witness A told the commission about a volatile standoff that erupted between his team and the Hawks during the arrest of Molefe in December 2024.
The standoff was preceded by tense moments during Molefe’s arrest at his Sandton home. Witness A said Molefe had a firearm on his waist while his bodyguard held a rifle. The team disarmed both before arresting Molefe and seizing electronic devices and cellphones. In one room, investigators found documents Molefe claimed belonged to his son.
He said the documents related to Transnet tenders and the company SK Group, which is directly tied to Swart’s murder after Q Tech exposed it for selling springs to Transnet at an exorbitant price. Witness A also alleged that Molefe’s nephew, Lucky Molefe, worked at Transnet as a buyer, and the investigating team wanted to arrest him.
According to Witness A, they were alerted to Hawks members at the gate demanding to know what they were doing at Molefe’s house.
“I was called outside and told them it was a legitimate operation taking place at Molefe’s house, and executing an arrest. They asked where we were coming from. I told them we came from organised crime, working with the Political Killings Task Team.
“The Hawks wanted details of the case we were working on and wanted to be briefed about the case. I said ‘no’, we cannot do this because what are their interests in this case, why do they want details of the matter, and told them [that] to give them information on the Molefe case would not be proper,” the commission heard.
Witness A further stated in his testimony that the Hawks officials told them that they were sent by now retired national Hawks head Godfrey Lebeya.
When Madlanga Commission evidence leader Lee Segeels-Ncube asked how the Hawks reacted to his refusal to share information, Witness A said they refused to back off, with one even saying, “Arrest that person for interfering.”
The situation grew tense as a helicopter hovered low over Molefe’s house. The helicopter pilot was later identified as Gauteng Traffic Police chief, provincial inspector George Raftopoulos. Witness A said the Hawks had requested his intervention after complaining there were “bogus” police at the house.
Witness A told the commission the atmosphere was volatile from the start, saying that if it hadn’t been contained, “Anything could have happened, it was a matter of minutes before things got out of control.”
“These events, the Hawks’ arrival and the helicopter overhead, showed just how powerful Molefe’s influence was. I then received a call saying the person I arrested is one of the generals’ people.
“We wanted to know why the helicopter came to our operation. Did they come there, maybe take Molefe away from us? And is this something that we should worry about going forward?” Witness A testified.
Alleged interference by Sibiya
Another key part of Witness A’s testimony was the alleged interference and pressure from Lieutenant General Sibiya.
Mkhwanazi has accused Sibiya of essentially being part of a vast plot to thwart investigations into a drug-trafficking cartel that had infiltrated South Africa’s law enforcement, politics and private security. Testifying in Parliament’s ad hoc committee inquiry into the same allegations, Sibiya has dismissed the allegations and accused Mkhwanazi of “playing a mind game”.
Read more: Sibiya challenges Mkhwanazi amid growing tensions in South African police force
A day after Molefe’s arrest, on 7 December 2024, Witness A said his superior, Colonel Mawelwa Mokoena, called, asking why Molefe was being held at Pretoria Central instead of a station near his family.
According to Witness A, his superior said that Sibiya had just phoned him with the same question.
“Mokoena told me what I did was not nice, and Sibiya is not happy and warned me to be careful [or I could] face a civil claim for what I did. I understood that Mokoena had been getting pressure from Sibiya to say, ‘You talk to your members, they must not do this, they should have done this.’ He didn’t express that to me, but that is what I understood him to say.”
Another call Witness A received was on 16 December 2024, from Major General Richard Shibiri, head of the police’s National Organised Crime Unit. At the time of the call, Witness A was with Witness B in their office.
According to Witness A, the call began casually, with Shibiri speaking about his recovery from surgery, before shifting to Molefe’s arrest.
Shibiri allegedly warned that Molefe was linked to a dangerous cartel that would “stop at nothing to get what they want”. Shibiri, according to Witness A, also mentioned being invited to Sibiya’s birthday party at his farm, which he declined due to his operation.
Witness A said Shibiri believed he had been invited to the party to give a progress update on the Molefe case. Shibiri allegedly said that he refused because he knew Sibiya didn’t want to brief the national commissioner, but rather “the other side”.
Witness A said he understood “the other side” to mean either the suspect or the group linked to him. He said Shibiri was expected to provide updates on progress in the case, noting that Sibiya kept pressing for feedback on what was happening on the ground.
The commission continues on Wednesday. DM