“Abuti re sharp ne” (brother, we are okay)”.
This is the message that Michael Tau, a police officer who allegedly turned rogue, sent to alleged crime kingpin Katiso “KT” Molefe shortly after Vereeniging engineer Armand Swart died in a hail of bullets.
This was revealed by a witness who testified at the Madlanga commission in Pretoria on Monday.
About two hours later, police investigating officers investigating Swart’s murder allegedly found 15 cartridges inside Tau’s vehicle, which were later linked to the crime scene.
He was arrested and charged with Swart’s murder.
The police investigator, known as Witness A, revealed that a few days before Swart’s murder, Molefe gave Tau contact details of Swart’s colleague at Qtech.
According to the witness, on April 13, Tau received a message from Molefe with the name and cellphone number of a person who was identified as an employee of Qtech.
It seems that Tau tried to get more information about Swart that was given to him by Molefe from a person called Lerato, the witness said.
“Lerato was interviewed [by police], and a statement was obtained from her that indeed she was requested to identify the person who works for Qtech,” the witness said.
Lerato was interviewed [by police], and a statement was obtained from her that indeed she was requested to identify the person who works for Qtech
— Witness
Afterwards, the witness said, Tau forwarded internet photos of Qtech employees with a message that “this must be them”.
A day before Swart was killed, Tau’s vehicle was also spotted passing by the Qtech building.
Swart was killed the following day in April 2024 after his company had flagged corruption in relation to a multimillion-rand Transnet tender.
Molefe, the alleged mastermind behind the murder of DJ Sumbody, was released on R400,000 bail on October 10.
Sowetan
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