The firearms that killed Oupa John Sefoka, known as DJ Sumbody, including an AK-47 rifle, are linked to at least 10 high-profile cases that include murder and attempted murder.
This was disclosed on Tuesday by national police spokesperson Brig Athlenda Mathe outside the Alexandra magistrate's court in Johannesburg, where four people appeared in connection with the November 2022 murder of Sefoka and his two bodyguards, Sibusiso Mokoena and Sandile Myeza. The trio were ambushed in a hail of bullets in Woodmead in what police believe was a planned execution.
Sandton businessman Katiso “KT” Molefe, accused of being the mastermind who ordered the hit on DJ Sumbody, was arrested on Monday. His co-accused and alleged hitmen are Michael Pule Tau, Tiego Floyd Mabusela and Musa Kekana.
According to the charge sheet, the four face three counts of murder and unlawful possession of firearms.
On Tuesday, the prosecution said new information had come to their attention that needed to be investigated before they could proceed with a bail application by Molefe.
The case was postponed to July 29, with the court ordering Molefe be kept at the Kgoši Mampuru correctional centre in Tshwane.
Molefe had been out on bail after being arrested in connection with the murder of Armand Swart, a Vereeniging engineer killed in April last year after his company allegedly flagged price gouging in a Transnet tender.
The alleged hitmen in the same matter, Tau, Mabusela and Kekana, were in custody.
Mabusela and Kekana also face charges of attempted murder in the Vusi “Cat” Matlala case of attempted murder on his ex-girlfriend Tebogo Thobejane.
Mathe told the media that within three hours of the murder of Swart, Gauteng organised crime detectives tracked down three suspects. During the arrests they seized one AK-47 rifle and three pistols.
“Those firearms have been in custody since. They were taken for ballistics testing.”
In December, the police political killings task team was assigned to assist Gauteng organised crime detectives with the Swart investigation.
They ordered further ballistics tests on the weapons.
“Those firearms came up positive in the case of DJ Sumbody and his two bodyguards. They were positively linked. Those four firearms are [now] linked to at least 10 high-profile cases that include murder as well as attempted murder.”
Mathe did not reveal which cases these are.
“We now know the firearm that killed Swart is the same firearm that killed DJ Sumbody and his two bodyguards.
“We now know the suspects arrested in the Swart case are the same suspects arrested [for] DJ Sumbody, but what is also interesting is that the two alleged hitmen in this particular case are also linked to the Tebogo Thobejane attempted murder,” she said.
Meanwhile, the daughter of one of the alleged hitmen in Thobejane's case, who is now the fifth accused, also appeared in the Alexandra magistrate's court on charges of money laundering.
Nthabiseng Nzama, 23, is expected to join Matlala, Mabusela, Kekana and Tsakani Matlala (Matlala's wife) when the matter returns to court on August 26. She was granted R10,000 bail.
Chad Thomas from IRS Forensic Investigations, who has a watching brief for the family of DJ Sumbody, said they are happy to see arrests being made.
“We are now in year three.
“It's been traumatic, especially for the mother and for the brother and the sister. They've tried their best to continue as normal, but with this case dragging on the way it was, and all the rumours doing the rounds, it's been of concern to them.
“It's good to report back that the police have been keeping in contact with the family and have kept the family apprised of what was going to happen.
“They are happy that these developments have taken place and they hope this leverage will continue and that it won't just affect their case but also other cases.”
Thomas thanked the detectives.
“We are appreciative of the work done by this specific police unit. It's heartening for us to see there are dedicated police officers working on these cases.”
TimesLIVE
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