It took a senior political killings task team forensic analyst less than 24 hours to link one of the three AK47s confiscated from Armand Swart’s alleged killers to more victims, including DJ Sumbody and his bodyguards.
This is according to Cpt Solomon Modisane, who in December was requested to compare the exhibits by Gauteng organised crime investigators.
He was testifying at the Madlanga commission on Tuesday.
Modisane said he analysed cartridge cases and bullet jackets that were found at the crime scene of DJ Sumbody, Don Tindleni and Hector “DJ Vintos” Buthelezi.
“I found that exhibits found in Orlando (DJ Vintos case), Orlando two (Tindleni case) and Sandton (DJ Sumbody and his two bodyguards case) – all these exhibits – I found that they were fired from the same gun, and this specific gun is the AK47,” he said.
While it had taken less than 24 hours to make the link, head of ballistics Brig Mishak Mkhabela testified on Monday that it takes them 30 days to discover the link due to a shortage of staff and the manual practice.
Before Modisane analysed the guns, he said investigating officers had cited irregularities with the results that they got from the ballistic report in December.
He said that when he checked on the system, he realised that the firearms had two entries, one in the Pretoria forensic lab and one in KwaZulu-Natal.
“For it was bizarre why this was examined in Pretoria and KwaZulu-Natal, and the investigating officers presented me with a letter requesting the firearms to be examined by an independent analyst,” he said.
The AK47 is part of the five firearms that were confiscated by police when they arrested Joburg cop Michael Tau and his two co-accused, Musa Kekana and Tiego Mabusela.
Sowetan previously reported how, from March 2022 to April 2024, six men, including DJ Sumbody, died after being shot in their cars on Gauteng roads.
One of the victims, Hector “DJ Vintos” Buthelezi, was shot 27 times by gunmen in a BMW X3 outside a nightclub in Soweto in March 2022. His bullet-riddled body was found next to his car.
Eight months later, DJ Sumbody was killed together with his bodyguards, Sibusiso Mokoena and Sandile Myeza, when gunmen pumped bullets into them in Woodmead, Johannesburg.
DJ Sumbody and Mokoena were found dead in a VW Golf, while Myeza, who was driving in a BMW X5, was rushed to the hospital, where he died a few days later.
Four months later, in March 2023, Don Tindleni was killed on the N1. The following year, in April 2024, Swart was still in his car and about to enter his workplace when he was shot 23 times.
Sowetan
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