Suspended Brigadier Abraham Nkhwashu from the SAPS Sedibeng District justifies his controversial ties to businessman Katiso “KT” Molefe.
Image: Oupa Mokoena / Independent Newspapers
Suspended Brigadier Abraham Nkhwashu from the SAPS Sedibeng District has justified his prison visits to controversial businessman Katiso "KT" Molefe after Molefe was arrested on December 6, 2024, during a takedown operation by the Political Killings Task Team at his Johannesburg home.
Nkhwashu said his relationship with Molefe exists because Molefe is married to the wife of Nkhwashu's estranged wife's late brother, Sazi.
This occurred during his testimony before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry on Wednesday, where he admitted going to Groenpunt Prison to deliver clothes and food for Molefe, who was incarcerated for his alleged involvement in the killing of a Vereeniging engineer, Armand Swart, in April 2024.
Molefe was arrested with Joburg Central police officer Sergeant Michael Pule Tau, who is also implicated in Swart's murder.
Previous testimonies at the commission attested that Swart's murder was a case of mistaken identity and that a whistle-blower with evidence regarding allegations linked to the overpricing of a Transnet tender corruption implicating Molefe was the target of that suspected hit.
Nkhwashu stated that he accepted the late Sazi's wife, Fundiswa Nyagule, as his sister, in keeping with his cultural practice, and that their relationship continued even after Sazi's passing.
Nyangule later married Molefe, a relationship Nkhwashu disapproved of, as Molefe was still married to another woman.
He told the commission that he did not take part in the lobola negotiation because he did not want Nyagule to marry a married man.
However, he warmed up to their customary marriage after it took place, and he realised there was nothing he could do about it.
Nkhwashu said he met Molefe for the first time in June 2024 during a meeting Nyangule arranged in Alberton for the two to get acquainted.
During their encounter, Molefe allegedly told Nkhwashu that he had a multimillion-rand tender in Machabeng and suggested it could offer a security business opportunity for Nkhwashu as his SAPS retirement approached.
At the tail-end of their conversation, Molefe allegedly asked Nkhwashu for assistance with a bail application for his friend, Tau, who had already been arrested for Swart's murder.
Nkhwashu, who has been accused of interfering in Tau's bail application, said: "As we were concluding the meeting, Katiso said he had a question. He told me that a friend of his had been arrested and that he needed to know if the State would oppose bail, as he wanted to pay the bail money for his friend. I told him that I did not discuss my work-related cases with anyone, including my wife."
He testified about the stokvel or social gathering he had with his SAPS colleagues, where Tau's and Molefe's names came up in conversations with Nkhwashu's colleagues. The stokvel gathering took place days after his meeting with Molefe.
"The gathering was attended mainly by police officers, including Sergeant Lebogang Tshukudu," he said, describing Tshukudu as a good friend since 2017.
"During the stokvel, Tshukudu and others mentioned that they had come to my office to escort suspects (who included Sergeant Michael Tau). I recalled my earlier conversation with Katiso in which he had asked about bail for an unnamed friend," he told the commission.
Without mentioning Molefe's name to his colleagues, he told them that someone recently asked if the State would oppose bail.
He told the commission that he did not ask Tshukudu to do anything, adding: "I was later surprised that Tshukudu had approached Witness B about the Tau case. I never asked him to do so, and I never asked him to convey any message to Witness B, whether about opposing bail or about thanking her."
Witness B, a detective at the Gauteng Organised Crime Unit, testified last October about her conversation with Nkhwashu, who claimed to be acting on orders from Gauteng Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Tommy Mthombeni regarding the Swart murder case docket.
The commission heard that Mthombeni instructed that all dockets with J50 warrants of arrest be submitted to the Deputy Provincial Commissioner of Detective Services, Major General Mbuso Khumalo, to oversee those investigations as directed by the Gauteng Premier, Panyaza Lesufi.
Nkhwashu said he received all the dockets except two, leading him to enquire about them.
Following his enquiry, Witness B called him, stating she was advised he was looking for the two dockets.
Nkhwashu testified that he confirmed he was looking for the two dockets and that the provincial commissioner needed them.
After the call with Witness B, Nkhwashu said he became curious about the docket's owner. He looked at the case number and remembered it was for the arrest that took place in April.
"I immediately called Witness B and informed her that I actually do not want that docket as 'ngiyi (I am) suspect," he said.
Nkhwashu's testimony is under way.
rapula.moatshe@inl.co.za