Madlanga Commission hears of chaos during Hawks' arrest operation at KT Molefe's home

Testimony at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry on Wednesday exposed startling details about the chaotic arrest of Katiso "KT" Molefe, the uncle of the man believed to have organised the fatal shooting of Vereeniging engineer, Armand Swart.

The case is widely regarded as a mistaken-identity murder.

Swart was shot 23 times in April last year, allegedly after being misidentified as a whistleblower who had exposed a massive overpricing scandal at state logistics company Transnet.

The commission heard how Hawks and SAPS officers nearly came to blows outside Molefe’s Sandhurst home amid confusion over whether those present were real or fake law enforcement officers.

Evidence showed that a police helicopter had been deployed based on an anonymous tip-off, which senior Hawks officials later claimed not to recognise.

This has raised serious concerns about command oversight and competence within the elite crime-fighting unit.

"When I consider that the Hawks are supposed to be the elite organised crime fighting body in the country, and given the level of organised crime that is evident, that is taking people's lives, including the life of Armand Swart, a completely innocent father of two, from their families, whether it's malice or incompetence, it's incredibly depressing for the average South African to hear this kind of evidence,"says investigative journalist Karyn Maughan.

Maughan adds: "There are evident questions that need to be answered, but there's also an evident lack of respect for the South African public [who want to know] exactly what happened."

To listen to Maughan in conversation with CapeTalk's John Maytham, click the audio below: