A startling revelation has emerged from the Madlanga Commission, where SAPS ballistic head Brigadier Mishak Mkhabela testified that the firearms used in the murder of DJ Sumbody and his two bodyguards are linked to more than 20 other killings across Gauteng.
According to Mkhabela, the seized guns—recovered from former Johannesburg detective Michael Tau and his co-accused Musa Kekana and Tiego Mabusela—have been connected to at least 29 separate cases, including murder, attempted murder, and cash-in-transit heists.
During proceedings, Advocate Matthew Chaskalson, the commission’s chief evidence leader, pressed Mkhabela on the implications of the ballistic findings.
“Would that mean different investigations have been proceeding parallel with one another without the investigating officers in those 29 cases knowing that the weapons used in their case are the same?” Chaskalson asked.
Mkhabela confirmed that this was indeed the case, explaining that a shortage of staff at SAPS forensic laboratories caused significant delays in linking the firearms to multiple crimes.
The three accused were initially arrested in Bramley, Johannesburg, for possession of an unlicensed firearm, but further investigations tied them to the murder of Armand Swart — a whistleblower who was killed after his company exposed an irregular Transnet tender.
The ongoing inquiry also sheds light on the deadly string of assassinations that have plagued Gauteng since 2022, including:
DJ Sumbody (Oupa Sefoka), gunned down alongside Sibusiso Mokoena and Sandile Myeza in Woodmead in November 2022. DJ Vintos (Hector Buthelezi), who was shot 27 times outside a Soweto nightclub in March 2022. Don Tindleni, killed on the N1 in March 2023. Armand Swart, shot 23 times while sitting in his car outside his Vereeniging workplace in April 2024.
These findings suggest a disturbing network of hit-style executions carried out with the same deadly firearms—some allegedly tied to former law enforcement officers.
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