‘I have no friends in underworld,’ says former Hawks boss Lebeya

Former Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) head Lt-Gen Godfrey Lebeya has told the Madlanga commission of inquiry he made no friends in the criminal underworld.

He was defending himself and the Hawks against allegations of disrupting the arrest of murder accused Katiso Molefe.

Previous witnesses at the commission, investigating allegations of criminal infiltration in law enforcement agencies, testified Hawks officers sent by Lebeya attempted to disrupt Molefe’s arrest on December 6 2024.

Molefe faces a murder charge related to the assassination of engineer Armand Swart. Swart, who worked for the company QTech, was shot 23 times in Vereeniging on April 17 2024.

Taking the witness box in a bid to clear his name, Lebeya told the commission he did not know Molefe.

He said that on the day of the arrest he was contacted by a man known as Malcolm X, who told him that people identifying themselves as Hawks officers were conducting a raid at Molefe’s house under Lebeya’s instructions.

“I directed two senior managers to verify the allegations about persons who were said to be claiming to be members of the DPCI and to have been sent by me. I have never instructed members of the DPCI to interrupt a legitimate police operation,” Lebeya said.

A secret witness, an investigator in the Molefe case, told the commission Hawks officers sent on Lebeya’s instruction attempted to interfere with the operation.

“Lt-Gen Dumisani Samuel Khumalo [police crime intelligence head] draws an inference that the Hawks’ conduct is a clear obstruction of justice,” Lebeya said.

He argued that, in law, a charge of obstruction of justice has to show the accused intentionally acted to defeat justice. In his case, and that of Hawks officers, Lebeya contended there was no intention to do so and he did not know anything about the operation at Molefe’s house.

The purpose of the Hawks’ presence was only to verify whether imposters were raiding a house using his name, Lebeya said.

“I am one of the embodiments of honesty and integrity. I have executed my policing assignment for over 40 years. I have not created friends in the criminal world,” he said.

Lebeya told the commission Malcolm X was not his friend but would explain in camera the reason he met Malcolm X in April 2023.

After the Hawks officers verified the operation was a legitimate police operation, they left the scene.