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Bullet from assassinated Armand Swart took three months to reach labs Zandile.Khumalo Mon, 10/27/2025 - 17:53 PRETORIA – It took three months before the bullet extracted from the body of Vereeniging engineer Armand Swart reached the police ballistics laboratory.This is according to the national head of the Ballistics Unit, Mishak Mkhabela, who is testified before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry on Monday.Detailing the timeline, Mkhabela said that on 23 April 2024 a lab number was generated in Pretoria for cartridge cases collected at the Swart murder scene.WATCH | Discussion | Madlanga Commission puts ballistics capacity under scrutinyThose cases were assigned with ballistics analysis of the guns in the Swart murder, done on 8 May 2024, and completed on the system on 6 June.Another entry was registered on 25 April 2024, this one relating to the crime scene.Mkhabela says that was finalised on the Forensic Science Services (FSS) system in May 2024.However, the bullet taken from Swart’s body in the mortuary was registered at the lab only on 12 August, nearly three months after the 17 April murderIt was assigned and completed on 14 October, and finalised on the system on 23 October.Mkhabela said this prolonged timeline for the bullet’s analysis has raised questions.“One would expect that the deceased would be taken to the mortuary, where an autopsy would be conducted and the bullet retrieved. But when you check the date on which the bullet was brought to the lab, it was almost three months. This makes one ask where that bullet was during the period of when the incident took place on 17 April 2024 until,” he said.He added that the delay put significant pressure on the forensic team, suggesting that the autopsy was not conducted promptly, and the bullet was probably stored somewhere before finally reaching the laboratory.Swart, an employee at Q Tech Engineering Company, was shot dead while seated in his vehicle outside his workplace. He sustained multiple gunshot wounds and was declared dead on the scene.It was reported that the assassination was orchestrated to silence him after he blew the whistle about fraud and corruption linked to a Transnet tender contract.An intensive investigation by the SAPS Head Office Organised Crime team and Crime Intelligence led to the arrest of four suspects.Among them are alleged hitmen SAPS member Michael Pule Tau, Musa Kekana and Tiego Floyd Mabusela. In December 2024, controversial businessman Katiso Molefe was arrested and charged with Swart’s murder.

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