Manhunt intensifies for ex-Transnet employee allegedly behind whistleblower hit

News24

2 days ago

A whistleblower report about a 4 500% Transnet Freight Rail tender markup is believed to have triggered a murder plot that claimed the life of an innocent father of two.
Vereeniging engineer Armand Swart was shot 23 times in a case of mistaken identity after his company exposed procurement fraud.
Former Transnet employee Lucky Molefe remains a fugitive for his alleged role in the hit, while police uncovered a sophisticated crime network, allegedly involving a police detective turned hitman.
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Police are hunting for Lucky Molefe – a former Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) employee wanted for the brazen whistleblower hit in April last year – who has been on the lam for more than six months.
He is sought for the murder of Vereeniging engineer Armand Swart, who was gunned down outside his workplace when alleged hitmen mistook him for another employee.
Swart was shot 23 times.
His slaying came two weeks after the Vaal-based engineering company discovered a simple spring - no larger than a finger – which they produced and sold for R3.20 had then been sold on to Transnet with a price tag of R152.
With the state-owned freight and logistics company buying a consignment of 8 000 of these springs, what should have been a R25 000 purchase morphed into one of more than R1.2 million.
After reporting the 4 650% price surge, one of the company's managers was marked for death.
Swart – a father of two – was collateral damage.
Cold-blooded
In a statement released on Wednesday, police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Vincent Mukhati said a warrant for Molefe's arrest had been issued.
'An intensive investigation led by the SAPS Head Office Organised Crime team and Crime Intelligence led to the arrest of four suspects, including the one who was suspected to be behind the plot to murder Swart,' he added.
Supplied
'Molefe has been in hiding since December 2024, and police have been searching for him. He is warned to hand himself over at the nearest police station.'
Molefe is one part of a greater network of businesspeople and alleged contract killers. It is alleged that he was the inside man in Swart's murder.
Sources with knowledge of the investigation, who spoke to News24 on condition of anonymity, alleged that Molefe had manipulated the procurement system to inflate the price of the bid.
When Swart's employer reported the price surge, and he was questioned, Molefe had a hand in setting the murder plot in motion.
Murder value chain
On the day of Swart's murder, police traced and arrested alleged hitmen Michael Pule Tau, Musa Kekana, and Tlego Floyd Mabusela.
Tau was a career policeman and a detective stationed at the Johannesburg Central police station, while Kekana and Mabusela have previously been described as 'career criminals with a demonstrated history of violent behaviour'.
Molefe's uncle, Katiso 'KT' Molefe, was then arrested in December.
When his home was raided, police found critical documentation, including invoices from the SK Group, an entity police allege was used as a front.
Examining money flows, the investigating team was able to plot movement of funds to members of the Molefe family.
Rosetta Msimango/News24
Beyond this murder, the probe and raid on his home 'uncovered and collected masses of evidence' relating to Swart's murder and to 'other similar murders which have been linked to the same accused', according to the investigating officer's affidavit filed with court in opposition of bail.
'The group defines the very nature of an organised crime structure, with the individuals ranked according to power and ruthlessness, money obtained through a multitude of criminal activities laundered via businesses and assets, the utilisation of law enforcement members for criminal activities, intelligence gathering and protection against prosecution, and an abundance of illegal weapons, used to execute anyone who attempts to stand in the way of their racketeering activity,' she added.
Fired
Molefe absconded from work on the same day that police arrested his uncle, and his last contact with Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) was on 9 December last year.
'Transnet conducted in-depth investigations into the matter whilst also working closely with the SAPS in support of the criminal investigation. The outcome of the internal investigation recommended that a range of charges be brought against the employee. Charges were compiled by Transnet, with the employee going absent without leave before the charges could be served. As indicated, Transnet has terminated his services. All payments associated with his employment are being withheld,' TFR said in response to questions.
Molefe has been employed in the supply chain management section at TFR since 2017.
He was disciplined for a similar offence in 2021 and given a verbal warning.
Other killings
Kekana and Mabusela have also been charged with the attempted murder of actress and socialite Tebogo Thobejane, who survived an attempted hit in October 2023.
They are charged alongside controversial tender don Vusimusi Cat Matlala, who is alleged to have initiated the hit on Thobejane, his former lover.