Johannesburg — A 40-year-old Soweto woman has accused associates of KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi of kidnapping and torturing her in an attempt to extract information about her cousin, murder accused Katiso Molefe, and another relative suspected of being his accomplice.
The woman, Lebo Molefe, told Africa News Global that she and three children were seized by men identifying themselves as police officers while dining at Maponya Mall on 16 December 2024. Instead of being taken to Moroka Police Station, they were allegedly transported to multiple police facilities, where she says she was strangled, suffocated with a plastic bag, beaten, tasered and sexually assaulted over two days.
Her ordeal allegedly continued as the officers forced her to lead them to various family homes in Katlehong, Fourways and Standerton in search of her brother, Lucky Molefe. During the interrogations, Lebo claims officers threatened to kill her, saying “killing is their daily business.”
Molefe is facing trial alongside three alleged hitmen, Michael Pule Tau (55), Musa Kekana (35), and Tiego Floyd Mabusela (47) for the murders of popular musician DJ Sumbody and his two bodyguards in November 2022, as well as the April 2024 killing of Vereeniging engineer Armand Swart.
This is not the first time police linked to Mkhwanazi have faced accusations of unlawful conduct. In January, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) began probing claims that rogue Special Task Force members kidnapped a SAPS ballistics expert to obtain crucial evidence in the DJ Sumbody case.
Lebo said she has opened a case at Kliptown Police Station and provided medical reports to IPID, but has seen little progress in the investigation. “What I went through is the worst thing I’ve ever experienced. I will never trust a police officer again,” she said, adding that she is now considering legal action.
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