15 used cartridges found in cop’s car after Armand Swart murder, IO reveals

An investigator testifying at the Madlanga commission has revealed that they recovered 15 used cartridges inside a police officer’s vehicle about two hours after the assassination of Armand Swart, a Vereeniging engineer whose company had flagged corruption.

The Mercedes-Benz Viano belonging to a murder suspect and former police officer, Michael Tau, was discovered in Bramley, Johannesburg, parked in the middle of the road.

“Among the recoveries were four cellphones, with one cellphone being a burner phone [which does not have internet capabilities], suspects use this phone with the belief that when they use it, they cannot be traced.

“Used cartridges in a plastic bag; these 15 cartridges later helped us in the murder case of [Swart] crime scene. When we asked about the cartridges, [Tau] said they belonged to his brother, who is a hunter and had left them inside the car because he was using the car,” said Witness A.

According to Witness A, they (police officers) concluded that it meant that the killers collected the cartridges after the shooting with the intention to dispose of them.

After the discovery, Tau, Tiego Floyd Mabusela and Musa Kekana were arrested and charged with Swart’s murder, a whistleblower whose company had flagged a multimillion tender fraud.

When we asked about the cartridges, [Tau] said they belonged to his brother, who is a hunter and had left them inside the car because he was using the car.

—  Witness A

Swart was shot 23 times in April 2024.

CCTV footage shown at the commission has revealed a white Hyundai i20 recovered from Kekana’s home, which followed Swart to his company and parked next to his car minutes before he was killed.

Sowetan previously reported that two detectives in Swart’s case were followed from court sessions in Vereeniging, Vaal, and received threats, allegedly from a senior police officer and the suspects’ family and friends.

Sowetan