State opposes bail of 'dangerous criminal' DJ Sumbody murder accused

TimesLIVE

2 days ago

The state has described the Sandton businessman Katiso 'KT' Molefe, 61, as a dangerous criminal with no regard for human life.
Molefe, who is accused of the murder of Pretoria club owner Oupa John Sefoka, better known as DJ Sumbody, and is also charged with the murder of Soweto DJ Vintos, appeared at the Alexandra magistrate's court on Wednesday.
The state is opposing his bail application. An affidavit by the investigating officer read in court described Molefe as a flight risk.
DJ Sumbody and his two bodyguards, Sibusiso Mokoena and Sandile Myeza, were shot dead in Woodmead, Johannesburg, in November 2022.
Molefe is also charged with the murder of DJ Vintos, real name Hector Buthelezi, in March 2022 outside a nightclub in Orlando East, Soweto.
'The crimes that he is charged with are at this stage four counts of conspiracy to commit murder and four counts of murder, and if he is convicted, he will face long-term imprisonment,' read the affidavit.
The court heard that the information indicates that Molefe is allegedly active in the illicit drug trade and that the killing of the DJs was connected to the trade.
Investigators approached Sars using section 73 of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (Poca) notification.
The preliminary investigation by Sars revealed that the business entities to which he attests in his affidavit during the bail application in February, on the matter of Armand Swart, in support of his bail application, didn't identify the source of the funds.
'The analysis of the bank statements obtained through the section 205 subpoena shows that the applicant predominantly receives cash deposits, with no identifiable source of these funds.
'This raises a strong suspicion that he has unidentified sources of income. What further needs to be brought to the court's attention is that there was a huge outcry on social media against the applicant's release on bail recently,' read the affidavit.
The investigating officer's affidavit indicated that Molefe will intimidate and influence the witnesses.
'Witnesses have indicated that they fear for their lives. There is an imminent danger that if the applicant is released on bail, more witnesses will go into hiding and will refuse to come to court.'
It was stated that putting more witnesses in witness protection has its own challenges and it's extremely disruptive to the lives of the witnesses.
'There is a likelihood that the applicant will destroy evidence when released on bail. One of the AK-47s used in the shooting of DJ Sumbody is still missing, and we are still looking for it.'
To further support the assertion that the applicant has destroyed evidence, the investigating officer attached the statement which illustrates that Molefe had been consistently using same cellphone number across different five phones since April 2016.
'However, on 8 October 2024, the applicant abruptly ceased using both this number and the device associated with it.
'The timing of this change is highly significant, as it occurred one day after crucial evidence was presented in the Vereening court on 7 October 2024, during proceedings related to the rearrest of accused 1, Michael Pule Tau, for contravening bail conditions,' read the affidavit.
The investigating officer indicated that the evidence against Molefe was overwhelming, and if released on bail, he has a strong motive to evade justice.
He has the means to leave the country at any time, as his movement across the border over the years from 2004 until 2024 was more than 100 times.
Molefe's co-accused, who were not in court as they did not apply for bail and are in prison for the murder of Armand Swart, are Michael Pule Tau, Tiego Floyd Mabusela and Musa Kekana.
The matter was postponed to August 14 for the continuation of the bail application.