‘I have no friends in underworld,’ says former Hawks boss Lebeya

Story audio is generated using AI

Former Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) head Lt-Gen Godfrey Lebeya has told the Madlanga commission of inquiry he made no friends in the criminal underworld.He was defending himself and the Hawks against allegations of disrupting the arrest of murder accused Katiso Molefe. Previous witnesses at the commission, investigating allegations of criminal infiltration in law enforcement agencies, testified Hawks officers sent by Lebeya attempted to disrupt Molefe’s arrest on December 6 2024. Molefe faces a murder charge related to the assassination of engineer Armand Swart. Swart, who worked for the company QTech, was shot 23 times in Vereeniging on April 17 2024. Taking the witness box in a bid to clear his name, Lebeya told the commission he did not know Molefe. He said that on the day of the arrest he was contacted by a man known as Malcolm X, who told him that people identifying themselves as Hawks officers were conducting a raid at Molefe’s house under Lebeya’s instructions. “I directed two senior managers to verify the allegations about persons who were said to be claiming to be members of the DPCI and to have been sent by me. I have never instructed members of the DPCI to interrupt a legitimate police operation,” Lebeya said. A secret witness, an investigator in the Molefe case, told the commission Hawks officers sent on Lebeya’s instruction attempted to interfere with the operation. “Lt-Gen Dumisani Samuel Khumalo [police crime intelligence head] draws an inference that the Hawks’ conduct is a clear obstruction of justice,” Lebeya said.He argued that, in law, a charge of obstruction of justice has to show the accused intentionally acted to defeat justice. In his case, and that of Hawks officers, Lebeya contended there was no intention to do so and he did not know anything about the operation at Molefe’s house. The purpose of the Hawks’ presence was only to verify whether imposters were raiding a house using his name, Lebeya said. “I am one of the embodiments of honesty and integrity. I have executed my policing assignment for over 40 years. I have not created friends in the criminal world,” he said. Lebeya told the commission Malcolm X was not his friend but would explain in camera the reason he met Malcolm X in April 2023. After the Hawks officers verified the operation was a legitimate police operation, they left the scene. Lebeya said Malcolm X sent him a message saying: “Thank you for sending people who verified that these gentlemen are policemen and King Nyambose really appreciates all your efforts, general. It is a pity that the policemen you sent were not allowed inside the yard and the house.” When asked about who Nyambose was, Lebeya said he did not know but said Nyambose is sometimes used as a reference to people belonging to the Mthethwa clan. A man called Boy Mthethwa was previously identified as having called the Hawks. Lebeya told the commission the confusion on the day of Molefe’s arrest would have been avoided if he had been alerted by top police management, including KwaZulu-Natal police provincial commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, about the organised crime operation. “If Lt-Gen [Dumisani] Khumalo had informed me, as the national head of DPCI, about the operation, or if upon receiving a report about the presence of the members of the Hawks at the scene, he had checked with me, the situation would not have occurred. It is unfortunate that he cited the issue of trust,” he said. SAPS divisional commissioner of crime intelligence Lt-Gen Dumisani Khumalo. Picture: ANTONIO MUCHAVE. Lebeya said the testimony of police crime intelligence head Lt-Gen Dumisani Khumalo before the commission showed there was distrust between Hawks management and the South African Police Service. “Gen Dumisani Samuel Khumalo testified that he has deliberately excluded the DPCI to protect the investigation against the Hawks because there was information which he received in May 2024 that Captain Zungu of TOMS Hawks is involved.“That talks to trust issues between the two principals or among the principals in the space.“I now understand why he has never brought information of any serious organised crime or serious corruption to my attention since taking office and feel betrayed,” he said. The Hawks’ main mandate is to deal with organised crime cases.Lebeya also testified that Khumalo, managing the KwaZulu-Natal political killings task team, once told him, Lt-Gen Shadrack Sibiya and national commissioner Gen Fannie Masemola that he “feared for his life”. “I have not heard as to whether Lt-Gen Dumisani Samuel Khumalo testified about his possible visit to the Hammanskraal farm or one of the Big Five and the developments thereof or confrontation where he felt his life was in their hands.“When we were conversing on our way from an Interpol meeting, there was this indication that at some stage he was confronted and he felt his life was in danger in handling some of these matters,” Lebeya said. He described Khumalo, Mkhwanazi and Masemola as close and said they had promoted each other in the police service. “Indeed, the trio have been together for a long time and, in some instances, appointing and promoting each other. Furthermore, it is worth noting that Lt-Gen Masemola was appointed by Lt-Gen Mkhwanazi to become the deputy national commissioner,” he said. Lebeya told the commission he and Mkhwanazi had a cordial working relationship, and he had also been involved and provided support to the work of the political killings task team. The task team was involved in the Molefe arrest. Lebeya will return to the commission for cross-examination at a later date.Business Day