Joining the dots — SAPS infighting casts a long shadow

Daily Maverick

3 days ago

The lid seems to have been blown open on an intricate web of criminality in both the SAPS and among those with links to law enforcement.
Over the past four years, a complex and deeply troubling pattern has emerged in South Africa's law enforcement landscape – one that links assassinations and sabotage to interference from within the ranks of the South African Police Service (SAPS). It also links a web of politically connected businesspeople with influence and links to top politicians.
What began as seemingly isolated murders of high-profile people has morphed into a deeply embedded saga of political interference, organised crime and internal warfare in the police's Crime Intelligence branch. The narrative is no longer about individual cases, but about a systemic corrosion that implicates law enforcement at the highest level.
Most recently, almost three years after the assassination of popular musician and nightclub owner DJ Sumbody – real name Oupa John Sefoka – and his two bodyguards in November 2022, credible breakthroughs have emerged. On Monday, 21 July, the SAPS arrested four suspects in connection with the trio's murder.
Crucially, ballistic analysis by the SAPS has confirmed that a firearm used in Sefoka's killing was also used in the murder of engineer Armand Swart in April 2024, indicating a clear operational link.
The four arrested suspects, including businessperson Katiso 'KT' Molefe, were charged in 2024 with Swart's murder and were out on bail.
Two of the alleged hitmen have also been linked to the attempted murder of actress Tebogo Thobejane in October 2023.
Molefe was apparently linked to the Sefoka and Swart cases via ballistics, telecommunications metadata and corroborated witness testimony. These developments validated earlier findings of the now disbanded Political Killings Task Team, which had flagged similar connections in 2023.
(Graphic: Yeshiel Panchia)
A wolf in police clothing: July 2025
On 6 July, KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi held a bombshell press briefing, accusing Police Minister Senzo Mchunu and Lieutenant General Shadrack Sibiya, deputy national commissioner for crime detection, of obstructing investigations.
Mkhwanazi released screenshots of alleged WhatsApp communications between Brown Mogotsi, an influential North West businessperson with alleged links to top-echelon ANC members, including Mchunu, and tenderpreneur Vusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala, who remains in police custody for his alleged involvement in the failed hit on Thobejane. The messages suggested advance knowledge of the task team's shutdown and details of sensitive case dockets.
Mkhwanazi alleged that a Crime Intelligence faction had aligned with political interests and organised crime, compromising informants and derailing prosecutions. He claimed that South Africa's intelligence apparatus had been captured – not by foreign forces, but from within.
Crime Intelligence arrest: June 2025
On 26 June, Crime Intelligence chief Lieutenant General Dumisani Khumalo and six senior officers were arrested on charges of fraud and nepotism.
The case involves the irregular promotion of Dineo Mokwele, the daughter of Hawks Brigadier Mapome Mohajane, to the rank of brigadier – despite her having no policing background whatsoever.
However, Khumalo's arrest was not met with uniform applause and may have been one of the last nails in the coffin for the most explosive public showing of police infighting in recent memory.
Matlala arrested: May 2025
By mid-2024, Matlala had emerged as a central figure in overlapping webs of procurement corruption and questionable transactions at Tembisa Hospital – the same network of payments that whistle-blower Babita Deokaran flagged before her assassination in 2021. Nevertheless, he later scored a R360-million police health services deal while under investigation. The contract has since been cancelled.
On 14 May, Matlala and three others were arrested on charges of attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and money laundering. The attempted murder charge related to the drive-by shooting of Thobejane, with whom Matlala was publicly associated – she was his ex-girlfriend.
This week, a fifth suspect was arrested in connection with the failed hit.
Sibiya's 'docket grab': March 2025
At his press briefing, Mkhwanazi alleged that Sibiya had removed sensitive case dockets from KwaZulu-Natal and centralised them in Pretoria, a move that was condemned by KwaZulu-Natal police leadership. Among the cases were at least five files with imminent arrest warrants.
Mkhwanazi said the seizure was designed to interrupt prosecutions involving politically connected suspects. Alongside these claims, there have also been claims that Crime Intelligence officers irregularly used state funds to purchase private properties under the cover of intelligence operations, resulting in a probe by the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption.
The probe prompted a series of arrests of SAPS procurement staff, who allegedly funnelled money to politically connected vendors under the guise of Crime Intelligence operations, though the attorneys for the accused have stated that the arrests are based on factionalist motives.
Task team disbanded: December 2024
Another aspect of Mkhwanazi's stand-off was his protest against the disbanding of the Political Killings Task Team, which was closed down by Mchunu in a directive late in 2024.
The unit, established in 2018 to tackle politically linked assassinations, had compiled detailed evidence pointing to an organised hit network with political ties. Mkhwanazi alleged that its sudden shutdown was aimed at derailing imminent arrests.
Despite the disbanding, SAPS Spokesperson Brigadier Athlende Mathe said during a media briefing on 22 July that elements of the Task Team were still working on previous cases, leaving the final status of the team uncertain.
Swart assassination: April 2024
Swart was shot dead outside his workplace in Vereeniging, with intelligence suggesting the hit was intended to silence a whistle-blower who had blown the lid on Transnet corruption – but they got the wrong man.
Molefe, the businessperson who was arrested this week in connection with the murder of DJ Sumbody, had previously been arrested in connection with Swart's murder. As mentioned, a firearm has been linked to both murders.
Thobejane hit: October 2023
In October 2023, Thobejane survived a targeted drive-by shooting on the N1 near Grayston Drive in Sandton. She was shot in the foot, but a female passenger was seriously injured.
State servant silenced: August 2021
Deokaran was gunned down after flagging irregular payments involving R850-million at Tembisa Hospital. Companies later exposed in reporting by News24 included several linked to Matlala. Though hitmen have been convicted for her murder, the masterminds have not been found.
Deokaran's assassination was the origin point. Some of the tenders she flagged were later tied to Matlala, who would re-emerge through links to the Thobejane shooting.
The sequence of events that has followed – docket seizures, the task team disbandment, arrests in police ranks, including Crime Intelligence – suggests a coherent pattern of disruption. The suspects didn't just know how to operate outside the law – they seemed to understand how to disable or influence it from within. These are not isolated events, and the pattern suggests an ability to not just evade the law, but to subvert the systems meant to enforce it.
Whether the system can confront itself remains uncertain. President Cyril Ramaphosa's promised commission of inquiry, along with investigations by parliamentary committees, may be the last chance to break this corruption cycle. DM