Madlanga Commission
PRETORIA - An organised crime detective says he was warned he’d “touched the wrong person” after arresting alleged Big Five cartel member Katiso “KT” Molefe.
Testifying before the Madlanga Commission in Pretoria, Witness A recounted receiving a call shortly after the arrest, telling him that Molefe was friends with the generals and highly connected within police ranks.
"There was a call that I got from a certain individual shortly after we'd arrested Molefe, who then asked me if I was aware that the person that we'd just arrested is the person of the generals. He put it in that way,” he said.
I told the caller I wasn’t aware of that. He replied, "It means, wow, you are confronting the generals." Witness A added that the caller didn’t specify which general.
READ | Witness A in Madlanga Commission details Katiso Molefe's 2024 arrest
When questioned by the commission about the caller’s identity, Witness A said it was someone he knew and who was saved in his phone book, but he could not reveal their identity on an open platform for safety reasons.
Witness A, however, confirmed that the caller was a civilian and not a member of the police.
Earlier, Witness A had described an unusual occurrence that took place during the arrest.
He says SAPS officials from various units and divisions had arrived at a private residence during the takedown and attempted to interfere.
"Even if there were legitimate concerns about the operation’s legality, I never expected a full Hawks team, with a helicopter, to swoop in, try to stop us, and resist our efforts to protect the operation’s integrity. This only underscored just how far the influence within law enforcement reached," Witness A said.