PRETORIA, 29 October 2025– The head of the Hawks’ Tactical Operations Unit, Brigadier Lesiba Mokoena, has confirmed that he deployed officers to verify the legitimacy of a molefe-home-raid-in-2024/">police raid on the home of alleged criminal Katiso KT Molefe.
Mokoena made the revelation while testifying before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry in Pretoria on Wednesday. He explained that the order came from his superior, who had requested confirmation of whether the KT Molefe raid and subsequent arrest in December last year were lawfully conducted.
According to Mokoena, the Political Killings Task Team had executed the raid in an attempt to apprehend Molefe, who is accused of involvement in the murder of Vereeniging engineer Armand Swart.
However, controversy surrounded the operation when reports emerged that several men identifying themselves as Hawks officers had allegedly interfered with the task team’s attempt to make the arrest. Witnesses described the unidentified officers as “very aggressive” and claimed they tried to block the lawful detention of Molefe.
Brigadier Mokoena told the commission that he had authorised only two Hawks members to attend the scene for verification purposes. He denied any knowledge of additional Hawks officers being present or of their possible motives.
“When the division commander gave me an instruction, he said there were members claiming to be from the Hawks and working with General Lebeya. I instructed my members to go to Molefe’s address to confirm whether it was a legitimate police operation,” Mokoena testified.
The Madlanga Commission is currently investigating the conduct of law enforcement agencies during politically sensitive operations. Mokoena’s testimony has raised further questions about coordination between police units and the Hawks during such high-profile cases.
The inquiry is expected to continue hearing evidence from senior law enforcement officials over the coming weeks.
