Testimony unveils businessman’s connection to Armand Swart murder case | Madlanga Commission

Businessman and taxi boss Phehello Mthakathi, who knew an alleged murderer of Vereeniging engineer Armand Swart, had access to crucial CCTV footage of the murder scene just four days after the deadly shooting on April 17, 2024.

This came from testimony by Gauteng Organised Crime Unit officer Sergeant Fannie Nkosi, who testified at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry on Wednesday.

The commission previously heard that Swart was mistakenly killed and that a whistle-blower, who exposed a company linked to businessman Katiso "KT" Molefe for overpricing in a Transnet tender, was believed to be the target of a suspected attack.

Nkosi testified that Mthakathi sent him the video of Swart's murder scene but he did not immediately see the need to discuss its content with him.

Nkosi subsequently forwarded the video to Hawks officer Warrant Officer Zungu despite not being the investigating officer in the case.

Advocate Mathew Chaskalson SC, the evidence leader, suggested it was odd that Nkosi forwarded the video footage to Zungu and not the investigating officer.

On April 17, 2024, Zungu called Nkosi, telling him that he and his team were traveling from Pretoria to a murder scene in Vereeniging.

Nkosi said Zungu told him it was alleged that Mthakathi knew Swart's alleged murderer, prompting Nkosi to ask Mthakathi to verify if this was true.

He said Mthakathi sent him the ID numbers of Danny Mabusela, asking if he was the one alleged to have committed the murder; Zungu subsequently confirmed it was him.

Earlier, the commission heard that Mthakathi was an associate of the late Pretoria taxi tycoon Mswazi Msibi, who also owned a farm.

Nkosi, who referred to Msibi as baba (father) to describe their close relationship, said Mthakathi was also known to suspended SAPS deputy national commissioner Lieutenant-General Shadrack Sibiya. Sibiya has been at Msibi's farm on a few occasions, according to Nkosi. 

After Msibi's death, Mthakathi reached out to Nkosi, requesting assistance for the Msibi family, who were facing violent attacks on their taxis.

Mthakathi had sent Nkosi a list of taxi-related violence cases implicating Msibi's former associate Joe Sibanyoni.

Nkosi said he was asked to assist in the taxi violence cases even though he was not officially involved in the investigations.

He was questioned about Mthakathi's reasons for giving him the list of cases allegedly involving Sibanyoni, and what actions he took upon receiving the information.

He replied that he did nothing about the information shared with him, adding that he was not involved in any of the cases. 

Nkosi, however, did discuss the cases with Sibanyoni, as Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi had asked him to arrange a meeting with Sibanyoni to address the allegations against him.

That was after Mkhwanazi was deployed by former Police Minister Bheki Cele to handle the taxi violence matter.

Nkosi told the commission that he did not mention to Mkhwanazi that Msibi had already independently asked him to look into allegations involving Sibanyoni. 

He said he knew Sibanyoni through his past friendship with the late Msibi, and that Sibanyoni was suspected of orchestrating violence against Msibi's taxis following Msibi's death.

Nkosi testified that the relationship between Msibi and Sibanyoni had soured before Msibi's death.

"This is because before Msibi died they were no longer on good terms. They were fighting," Nkosi said.

He testified that Sibanyoni denied involvement in the taxi violence. 

He stated that taxis, operated by Msibi's right-hand man, were being blocked by queue marshals from loading passengers at taxi ranks. 

To assist the Msibi family amid the taxi feud, he often interacted with Sibanyoni to try to mediate the dispute between the two warring factions.

"I was doing it as a family friend. It was not a SAPS matter. It was a case about the two families and I got involved because I know the two families," he said.

rapula.moatshe@inl.co.za