Cops kidnap colleague for DJ Sumbody evidence

Armed Special Task Force officers wanted evidence

- By Mawande AmaShabalala

KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi’s associates have allegedly kidnapped a fellow cop to retrieve evidence that resulted in the arrest of the suspects implicated in the DJ Sumbody and DJ Vintos’s murder cases, among other victims.

These details are contained in a sworn affidavit deposed to by Captain Itumeleng Makgotloe, a senior SAPS ballistics expert at the police's Silverton forensics laboratory.

Makgotloe submitted the affidavit to Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) for investigation. The affidavit is set to be examined at the hearings in the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry, starting next month.

In the affidavit, which we have seen, Makgotloe alleged that he was held hostage by rogue Special Task Force operators to obtain the crucial evidence. He said his nightmare began during what was supposed to be a routine period of his annual leave.

While minding his own business on a Tuesday afternoon on January 7, having a braai with his family, Makgotloe received a call from a sergeant Mbele. Mbele told Makgotloe that he needed to make corrections on a 212 statement and sign it at the instruction of a prosecutor.

When Makgotloe informed her that he was on leave and could only assist when he returned to work, the forceful Mbele insisted that the assistance was needed immediately.

The two eventually agreed to meet up at Loate Police Station.

At about 18h00, the two met, but Mbele had a surprise in store for the cooperating Makgotloe.

"I drove to Loate, and when I arrived, I phoned the sergeant to ask where she was, and she answered by saying, 'come to the Mercedes Benz V-class, black in colour,' and I went.

"She came out from the car, with men armed with rifles and others with small guns on their waist belts," Makgotloe wrote in a statement.