Witness
Businessman; named in testimony as an alleged Big Five figure · Sandhurst, Johannesburg
Named in testimony · charged · has not testified
A Johannesburg businessman who has run through this commission's evidence since its earliest sittings without ever appearing before it. Crime Intelligence head Lieutenant General Dumisani Khumalo named him in September 2025 among the alleged leaders of the Gauteng syndicate the commission's record calls the 'Big Five'. He was named again on 18 August 2026 (Day 161) in WhatsApp material recovered from the phone of the late taxi boss Jotham 'King Mswazi' Msibi, as an alleged party to a January 2023 plan to buy a cellphone interception device from a Czech supplier on the representation that the purchaser was the South African Police Service. Separately, he was arrested at his Sandhurst home on 6 December 2024 by members of the KwaZulu-Natal Political Killings Task Team and the Special Task Force in connection with the murder of Vereeniging engineer Armand Swart, and that arrest has itself become a sustained subject of the inquiry: from October 2025 officers described Hawks units arriving at the scene, and on 27 August 2026 (Day 168) retired Hawks national head Lieutenant General Godfrey Lebeya gave evidence that he did not know Molefe and had directed managers to verify a claim that people were impersonating the Hawks there. Molefe is an accused, not a witness. He has not given evidence to the Madlanga Commission, has not answered any of the allegations before it, has not been convicted of anything, and is presumed innocent. This page records what has been said about him rather than any finding.
This profile summarises testimony and evidence given on the public record before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry. It restates allegations as presented at the hearings and is not a finding of guilt, liability, or wrongdoing by any person.
Their role
Testifying on 29 September 2025, Crime Intelligence head Lieutenant General Dumisani Khumalo described a Gauteng-based cartel he said was active in drug trafficking, hijackings, tender fraud and contract killings, and named Molefe among those he alleged led it, alongside businessman Vusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala. The allegation is untested, Molefe has never answered it before the commission, and he is presumed innocent.
On 18 August 2026 chief evidence leader Advocate Matthew Chaskalson SC led WhatsApp material recovered from the phone of the late taxi boss Jotham 'King Mswazi' Msibi. It named Molefe, Msibi, suspended SAPS sergeant Fannie Nkosi and security businessman Steve Motsumi as alleged parties to a plan to acquire an IMSI catcher - a 'grabber' capable of covertly intercepting cellphone traffic - from a supplier in the Czech Republic, on the representation that the purchaser was the South African Police Service, and then to resell it in eSwatini. Untested; Msibi is dead and the living people named are presumed innocent.
Molefe was arrested at his Sandhurst home on 6 December 2024 by members of the KwaZulu-Natal Political Killings Task Team and the Special Task Force in connection with the murder of Vereeniging engineer Armand Swart. The arrest is one of the longest-running threads in this inquiry, not because of Molefe's conduct but because of the police conduct around it: from October 2025 witnesses told the commission that Hawks units arrived while the operation was under way, a task team member alleged interference, and a Hawks brigadier and a major general gave differing accounts of who deployed whom and why. On Day 168 the retired Hawks national head answered it himself, saying he did not know Molefe and had asked two senior managers to verify a report that people were impersonating the Hawks at the address. Molefe faces the criminal charge; it has not been decided and he is presumed innocent.
On the record
Connections
Taxi owner; president, South African Local and Long Distance Taxi and Bus Organisation
On Day 169 Joe 'Ferrari' Sibanyoni told the commission that the association between the late Jotham Msibi and both Molefe and Vusimuzi Matlala convinced him a renewed threat against his life was forming. Molefe has never given evidence to this commission and has not answered it. Untested; he is presumed innocent.
View profile →The arrest at the centre of Lebeya's evidenceNational Head, Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks), 2018 to 2025
Lebeya is alleged to have caused Hawks units to be deployed to Molefe's Sandhurst home during his arrest. On Day 168 he denied knowing Molefe at all. Untested; both are presumed innocent.
View profile →The witness who named himHead, SAPS Crime Intelligence
Khumalo's September 2025 evidence named Molefe among the alleged leaders of the 'Big Five'. Molefe has never answered it before the commission; untested, both presumed innocent.
View profile →Alleged counterpart on the 'grabber' planTaxi boss and security company owner (deceased); named in evidence as a former 'Big Five' figure
Molefe was named with Msibi, Fannie Nkosi and Steve Motsumi on the January 2023 messages led on Day 161. Msibi is dead; the allegation is untested and the living people named are presumed innocent.
View profile →Alleged counterpart on the 'grabber' planSecurity company owner; named in evidence alongside the late Jotham Msibi
Both were named on the Day 161 messages as parties to the alleged interception-device purchase. Untested; both presumed innocent.
View profile →Named alongside him in the Big Five evidenceBusinessman; alleged 'Big Five' cartel figure
Khumalo's September 2025 testimony named both men among the alleged leaders of the same syndicate. Matlala has since testified under subpoena; Molefe has not appeared. Untested; both presumed innocent.
View profile →Sources