Madlanga Commission | Hawks official denies meddling in Katiso Molefe raid

Hawks divisional commissioner, Lieutenant General Dumisani Mbotho, has distanced himself from allegations that Hawks officials interfered with an operation at Katiso ‘KT’ Molefe’s  Sandton residence.

This follows testimony by Witness A before the Madlanga Commission, who claimed that Hawks officials threatened to arrest them for refusing to disclose information about their operation at Molefe’s house in December last year.

Witness A told the commission that while investigators were conducting a search-and-seizure raid at Molefe’s mansion, Hawks officials spent nearly an hour attempting to oppose the investigating team.

Molefe — alleged to be behind some of the country’s most violent assassinations and long accused of evading justice through connections to senior SAPS officials — was being pursued for allegedly orchestrating the 2024 murder of Vereeniging engineer, Armand Swart.

General Mbotho says he is “dumbfounded” by the claims, insisting he does not recall assigning his officials to further probe the matter. He said he was informed that his officers had to leave for another operation shortly after verifying the legitimacy of the search at Molefe’s residence.

“It is for that reason that I am not surprised that the allegations have found themselves coming our way because earlier I would have been told that they would be in a rush to another operation so I would have been told that they would have been under pressure. So I honestly don’t understand why after the interaction and after they sent us information about the operation, they would still choose to stay,” he said.

Mbotho also denied claims that a relative of Molefe asked him to interfere with the raid, saying he has never met or heard of AB Mthethwa.

He has been implicated by Warrant Officer Sabelo Nkosi — who testified earlier before the commission — of orchestrating the disruption of the operation.

Mbotho told the commission that former Hawks head, Lieutenant General Godfrey Lebeya, had alerted him to reports of suspected fake Hawks officers at Molefe’s property. He added that he was surprised his own officials reached the scene, as he had not provided them with full details to act.

“Let’s start on the day. If I had received a call from Mthethwa, what is it that would require me to deny of him. I have never even heard of him or the allegations that were said of him. So I can’t see a motivation for denying having received a call from an ordinary member of the public. Had I received this call it would have required no denying because Mthethwa is not one of those people where there is an allegation of wrong doing or needing to be arrested,” says Mbotho.

He further claims that if he had known Mthethwa was an ordinary citizen, he would not have dispatched any officials to Molefe’s home.

Warrant Officer Nkosi told the commission that upon arriving at Molefe’s home, he realised that the operation he was sent to disrupt – was legitimate, as the officers on site were in uniform and driving state-registered vehicles.

Nkosi believes his team was dispatched at the request of Molefe’s relative, Mthethwa, who allegedly asked General Mbotho for assistance.

He said he saw Mthethwa at the scene with another police official and immediately alerted Captain Barry Kruger, sending him a photo and alleging that Mthethwa had asked Mbotho to disrupt the raid.

“He is the one in the image with his hands behind his back. He introduced himself to me as Mr. Mthethwa. I say we were serving his interest because we were basically there for him. He is the one who made the call and that call made us run around to this place,” he added.

Nkosi further testified that he was ordered to abandon a critical operation in the North West to attend to the situation at Molefe’s residence.

He said the order came at around 4 p.m. from Brigadier Mokoena, who claimed that impostors posing as Hawks officers had infiltrated Molefe’s home.

The commission will resume on Tuesday, with Crime Intelligence Head, Lieutenant General Dumisani Khumalo, returning to the hot seat.

Khumalo previously disclosed the existence of the so-called “Big Five” criminal cartel, which operates primarily in Gauteng. His earlier testimony was cut short after he fell ill.

Written by: Odirile Rabalao