EXCLUSIVE: LEBEYA BRINGS MADLANGA COMMISSION TO ITS KNEES — 'I HAVE NO FRIENDS IN THE CRIMINAL UNDERWORLD, I HAVE 40 YEARS OF CLEAN POLICING'
- Mpho Dube
- 16 hours ago
- 5 min read
By Mpho Dube, Editor-in-Chief
The Azanian | Truth. Fearless. Unfiltered.
AZANIAFROCOMEDIA – The Catalyst of Impact
PRETORIA — They denied him a state lawyer. They tried to brand him a protector of a murder accused. They walked into the Madlanga Commission believing everything KZN Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi said as gospel truth.
Former Hawks National Head, Advocate Lieutenant-General Godfrey Lebeya — retired, paying from his own pension, without SAPS funding — walked into the Brigitte Mabandla Justice College on Thursday and delivered a masterclass in power, integrity and policing.Calm. Surgical. Unshaken.
Facing commissioners who, since July, have treated Mkhwanazi's explosive allegations about cartels, compromised generals and rot in SAPS as unquestioned fact, Lebeya did what no other witness has dared to do: He confronted the bias head-on and dismantled the lie that he tried to block justice.
"I do not know Katiso Molefe. I have never met him. I have executed my policing assignment for over 40 years. I have not created friends in the criminal world. I am one of the embodiments of honesty and integrity," he declared.
The room went silent.
The allegation was meant to bury him.On 6 December 2024, a joint team from the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT) and Gauteng Organised Crime Unit raided the Sandhurst mansion of alleged Big Five cartel figure Katiso "KT" Molefe for the assassination of engineer Armand Swart — shot 23 times in Vereeniging on 17 April 2024.
Mkhwanazi first told the country on 6 July 2025 that "unusual activities" unfolded — a senior manager sending Hawks TOMS officers to disrupt the arrest, a Gauteng Traffic Police helicopter hovering above Molefe's house.
A secret witness told the Madlanga Commission chaired by Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga that Hawks officers arrived saying they were sent by Lebeya and demanded details of the operation.
It sounded like a smoking gun. A Hawks head protecting a hitman.
Lebeya exposed it for what it really was: A catastrophic failure of command caused by the very distrust Mkhwanazi preached.
He testified that he received a call from a Johannesburg businessman known as Malcolm X, who was inside Molefe's house. Malcolm X claimed: There are people here claiming to be Hawks, claiming you sent them.
Lebeya, as national head of the DPCI, had over 30 unresolved cases of Hawks impersonators by December 2024 — criminals in Hawks t-shirts, criminals calling from inside prison cells.
"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 testified.
His men arrived, confirmed it was a legitimate SAPS operation, and left. No obstruction. No docket demanded.
He produced the message Malcolm X sent after:"Thank you for sending people who verified that these gentlemen are policemen and King Nyambose really appreciates all your efforts General. It is a pity that the policemen you sent were not allowed inside the yard and the house."
Lebeya said he does not know Nyambose — it is sometimes used as reference to the Mthethwa clan. A man named Boy Mthethwa had previously called the Hawks. Malcolm X, he stressed, is not his friend. He will explain in camera why they met on 18 April 2023.
In law, he reminded the commission, obstruction requires intention. There was no intention. There was no knowledge. There was only a verification.
For weeks, the Madlanga Commission has been gripped by Mkhwanazi's narrative — that top SAPS management is compromised and cannot be trusted. It is a powerful narrative. But it is still a narrative that must be tested with evidence, not worshipped.
At times, commissioners have appeared to treat Mkhwanazi's allegations as proven fact, grilling any SAPS witness whose version differs as if contradiction equals guilt.
Lebeya exposed how dangerous that posture is on the ground.
"If Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo had informed me, as the national head of DPCI about the operation, or if upon receiving a report about the presence of the members of the Hawks at the scene, he had checked with me, the situation would not have occurred. It is unfortunate that he cited the issue of trust," Lebeya said.
Crime Intelligence Divisional Commissioner Lt-Gen Dumisani Khumalo, who heads the PKTT, told the commission he withheld information because of trust issues. "I now understand why he has never brought information of any serious organised crime or serious corruption to my attention since taking office and feel betrayed," Lebeya said.
Lebeya revealed it was probable Mkhwanazi himself knew about the Serious Organised Crime Unit's involvement in the Swart murder as early as November 2024, when he approved deploying 10 KZN members to Gauteng — yet Lebeya, the national Hawks boss, was deliberately kept in the dark. "A confrontational atmosphere was established where various units had to respond effectively... The atmosphere might have led to unintended outcomes, including the possibility of friendly fire," he warned.
When you treat one man's word as law, you stop briefing each other. You create armed standoffs at a suspect's gate. You endanger lives.
Before testimony, Lebeya's lawyer Eric Nwedo revealed SAPS had refused state-funded legal representation.
Application: 12 November 2025. Refusal: 6 January 2026. Decision maker: Deputy National Commissioner Tebello Mosikili — a former subordinate of Lebeya's who Lebeya had tasked to investigate the Port Shepstone drug theft matter, a stream before the commission.
Conflict of interest? Nwedo argued yes. SAPS's reason? His version differs from other SAPS witnesses. "Are they implying that there should have been alignment of versions from Dr Lebeya with the other SAPS witnesses?" Nwedo asked.
Justice Madlanga admitted: "I do not think we can come to the doctor's assistance," advising a court review. Lebeya had previously been funded for the Khampepe Commission into apartheid-era crimes after an initial refusal.
So Lebeya — retired May 2025, cooperating since October through multiple postponements — paid from his own pocket to clear his name before a commission that at times appears hostile to anyone who challenges Mkhwanazi.
And still, he stood powerful. Not loud. Immovable. Answering with statute, procedure, and 40 years of clean record while others before this commission face criminal charges — Gauteng Hawks boss Ebrahim Kadwa and Crime Intelligence executive Feroz Khan — or have resigned, like KZN Hawks head Lesetja Senona.
Lebeya returns for cross-examination. But on Day 1, he achieved what the commission desperately needs: He forced it to remember its job.
Not to believe Mkhwanazi. To test Mkhwanazi.
Because if everything Mkhwanazi says is treated as correct before evidence is led, this is not an inquiry. It is an endorsement. And the truth will never come out.
Comments