Exclusive: A former elite police officer has revealed how a high-stakes operation to arrest alleged criminal mastermind KT Molefe was thrown into chaos by the unexpected and aggressive arrival of Hawks officials, moments after Molefe’s bodyguard invoked the name of Police Minister Senzo Mchunu.
Capt Maxwell Tula Wanda, a former member of the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT), delivered startling testimony before the Madlanga commission, painting a picture of a legitimate police operation suddenly under siege from within.
The Takedown and The Claim
On December 6, 2024, a coordinated team comprising the PKTT, the tactical response team, and the national intervention unit moved in on Molefe’s upscale Sandhurst home. They were armed with a J50 warrant of arrest, authorised by a magistrate, linking Molefe to the murder of Vereeniging engineer Armand Swart and the killing of popular Pretoria club owner Oupa John “DJ Sumbody” Sefoka. Molefe is alleged to be the head of a powerful criminal cartel known as the “Big 5.”
It was during this tense operation that Lehasa Moloi, alleged to be Molefe’s bodyguard, made a pointed remark to Capt Wanda. “He asked me what was going to happen now, because the arrested person was the friend of the minister,” Wanda testified. The minister in question was explicitly named as Police Minister Senzo Mchunu.
Wanda stated he did not engage with the comment, choosing to focus on his duties. But the claim—that the alleged crime boss now in handcuffs enjoyed a personal friendship with the country’s top police official—hung heavy in the air.
“An Interference”: The Hawks Arrive
The situation escalated rapidly. As the team processed the scene, members of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) arrived in force. Wanda, who is now stationed at the Richards Bay local criminal record centre, said their presence was both unexpected and “concerning.”
“They came in numbers and I didn’t expect them in that big number. When I interacted with them, they were a bit aggressive and demanding answers,” Wanda told the commission. The Hawks officials claimed they had received intelligence about “bogus police officers” operating in the area.
Wanda managed to de-escalate the situation by speaking directly with Hawks Capt Barry Kruger. But the damage to the operation’s integrity was done. “I think everything was official, so I wouldn’t expect it to be disturbed or to be interfered with until the execution was completed,” he testified. “So to me, it was something like an interference, because it was an important takedown operation.”
This testimony corroborates earlier statements from other detectives, who described the Hawks’ arrival, coupled with a low-flying Gauteng traffic aircraft over the property, as a clear act of “interference.”
The Murky Motive: A Corrupt Transnet Tender and an “Unusual Interest”
The question at the heart of the commission is: why would such a high-profile arrest attract such dramatic interference?
The answer appears to lie in the complex web of corruption surrounding the murder of Armand Swart. The commission has heard that Swart’s killing is allegedly tied to a corrupt multi-million Rand tender at the state-owned enterprise Transnet.
The tender was awarded to the SK Group, a company linked to Molefe’s nephew, Lucky Molefe. A witness, identified only as Witness B, testified that the tender process was rigged, with the two competing companies being nothing more than “dummy companies” designed to ensure SK Group’s victory.
An investigator on the Swart murder case revealed that the case docket itself became an object of intense and “unusual interest,” attracting attention from members of the public and police officers of various ranks, suggesting a coordinated effort to monitor or potentially sabotage the investigation.
A Web of Power and Allegiance
The scene at Molefe’s house—a legitimate police team confronted by another state law enforcement unit, following a claim of the suspect’s friendship with the police minister—has become a powerful metaphor for the allegations being unpacked before the commission.
It points to a world where the lines between criminal cartels, corporate corruption, and state institutions are dangerously blurred. The invocation of Minister Mchunu’s name, whether a desperate bluff or a revealing truth, coupled with the disruptive arrival of the Hawks, suggests that the arrest of KT Molefe was not just about taking down an alleged killer, but about navigating a minefield of powerful political and criminal alliances.
The Madlanga commission continues its work to untangle this web, as a nation watches and waits for answers.
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