By Bianca ‘BB” Binase
The person who alerted former head of the Hawks, General Godfrey Lebeya, about the presence of police officers who purported to be members of the Hawks at a house where a high-profile murder suspect was about to be arrested by a specialised police unit is not the suspect himself as alleged. It is alleged that Lebeya dispatched a team to the home of Katiso “KT” Molefe to stop the arrest.
At a press briefing on Monday, July 6, General Mkhwanazi made explosive claims against police top brass, high-ranking politicians including police Minister Senzo Mchunu, and the judiciary. At this briefing, Mkhwanazi further claimed that on the day of the arrest of Katiso “KT” Molefe — the alleged mastermind in the murder of Vereeniging engineer Armand Swart, on December 6, 2024 — there was an attempt to stop the arrest by a police team from Gauteng. It has since emerged that the team Mkhwanazi was referring to was sent by General Lebeya.
Africa News Global can today exclusively reveal that the third party who called General Lebeya on the day of Molefe’s arrest in December 2024 is Johannesburg businessman Malcolm X — who claims he did not request Lebeya to send a team to go and stop Molefe’s arrest.
Molefe was arrested again last week in connection with the murder of Oupa John Sefoka, popularly known as DJ Sumbody. His arrest made headlines when police found Patriotic Alliance (PA) Deputy President and former City of Joburg MMC for Roads and Transport Kenny Kunene outside his house. Kunene, who has since resigned as both councillor and MMC, has been placed on 30-day leave of absence by the PA following revelations that he was outside the suspect’s house when police arrived to effect the arrest.
On Friday (December 6, 2024), a stand-off between the police and the Hawks nearly occurred when both parties arrived at Molefe’s house. The police were there to apprehend Molefe in connection with the murder of Vereeniging engineer Armand Swart.
In an interview a few days ago regarding the December arrest of Molefe, Lebeya stated that he received a call from a whistleblower indicating that individuals purporting to be members of the Hawks were at a house in Johannesburg and were about to effect an arrest of a murder suspect. However, Lebeya, who has faced scrutiny since it emerged that he directed members of the Hawks to rush to Molefe’s house, refused to reveal the identity of the person who called him and alerted him about the presence of members of the Hawks at Molefe’s house, stating that he would do so on the appropriate platform.
However, Africa News Global has since established that the individual who called Lebeya and alerted him about the presence of police at Molefe’s house is Malcolm X. Lebeya also confirmed that it was Malcolm X who called him.
“I initially declined to reveal the gentleman’s identity because I considered him a whistleblower and I thought I would reveal his identity as part of my evidence at the Judicial Commission of Inquiry announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa. Now that he has spoken to you and has revealed himself, I can indeed confirm that it is him, and not the murder suspect who called me as widely alleged,” Lebeya told Africa News Global.
“On the day of the suspect’s arrest, I received a call from someone who identified himself as Malcolm X, who told me that people purporting to be members of the Hawks were at a property in Sandhurst, effecting an arrest of a person they claimed was a murder suspect. The caller indicated to me that he doubted the credentials of the team at the scene,” Lebeya said.
Lebeya added that at no stage did Malcolm X ask him to go and stop the team from doing their job.
“He just asked me if there was something I could do to send officers to verify the credentials of the people who were at the suspect’s house claiming to be members of the Hawks. I immediately called the divisional commander who indicated to me that he also was not aware of that particular operation. I then requested him to send a team to go and investigate.”
Lebeya said that upon arrival at the suspect’s home, the Hawks identified themselves and requested the team they found at the scene to do the same.
“Once they had satisfied themselves that people who were at the suspect’s house were indeed real police officers, my team left the scene and allowed the police to carry on with their job,” said Lebeya. He added that if his officers had discovered that the people at the scene claiming to be police were not, his team would have arrested them for impersonating police officers.
Asked how he knew about the presence of the police at Molefe’s house, Malcolm X told Africa News Global that he received a call from a client of his who happened to be friends with Molefe, who doubted the legitimacy of the individuals who were arresting Molefe.
“My client was convinced that those individuals effecting the arrest were criminals impersonating police officers, a crime that has become very prevalent in this country. My client gave me the address of his friend and asked me to go and check what was happening. I then drove to the Sandhurst address provided by my client and on arrival, I found dozens of people and many vehicles parked outside the home. I got out of my vehicle and was asked by the officers what I was there for.”
“I identified myself and asked the officers which SAPS unit they came from. I got a very rude response from the officers who told me they were members of the Hawks and that it was none of my business why they were there. I then asked for their identification cards. They refused and asked me to leave.
While the drama continued, a gentleman who identified himself as the lawyer of the house owner arrived and asked the officers for permission to speak to his client. They refused and denied him access to the property and told him he will speak to his client in court. I then called General Godfrey Lebeya and told him there were dozens of men in balaclavas who were carrying out an arrest at a house in Sandhurst who claimed they were members of the Hawks.”
“General Lebeya asked for details including vehicle registration numbers the officers were using and the address where all this was happening. I made this call in the presence of the police officers at the scene and even put General Lebeya on the speaker to convince the police officers that I was in conversation with their boss, if they were genuine members of the Hawks.
Later after my call while I was still at the scene, more police vehicles arrived. The police officers in these vehicles engaged in a short conversation with officers they found at the scene. They showed them their credentials and asked officers at the scene to do the same. After some long engagements between the two groups of police officers, the group that arrived last left the scene and I also left shortly thereafter.
Asked if Lebeya had told him during their conversation on the phone that he was going to send officers to the scene, Malcolm X said Lebeya just thanked him for the information he had provided him but didn’t indicate how he was going to act on this information.”
Malcolm X said he was surprised that KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi at his press conference on July 6 claimed that when a task team was arresting Molefe at his house, another police team from Gauteng arrived with the aim of interfering.
Malcolm X insisted that Mkhwanazi must have known that it was him (X) who had called Lebeya because he (X) made the call while the team Mkhwanazi had sent to effect the arrest were listening.
Malcolm X said on July 14, a few days after Mkhwanazi’s press briefing, he called Mkhwanazi to clarify that he was the person who called General Lebeya.
“At 17:40 on the same day, 14 July, General Mkhwanazi returned my call, but I missed it as I was busy with something that I cannot remember. At 18:05 on the same day, 14 July 2025, again, I returned General Mkhwanazi’s call, but he did not pick up my call.”
“The following day, Tuesday, July 15, 2025 at 12:01, I called General Mkhwanazi again, but he still did not pick up my call. My intention was still to clarify to him that I am the one that called General Lebeya on December 6, 2024 with an intention for General Lebeya to verify if he had indeed sent members of the Hawks to Mr Molefe’s house and not to stop Mr Molefe’s arrest as alleged.
Kindly note that I called General Lebeya as a law-abiding and concerned citizen, not as Mr Molefe’s friend as alleged by General Lebeya because I have neither met Mr Molefe before nor do I have his cell number,” said Malcolm X.
Africa News Global has sent questions to General Mkhwanazi and will publish his response once it is received. – Original article: Africa News Global
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