Police ballistics chief Brigadier Mishak Mkhabela told a judicial inquiry on Monday that errors in a forensic report about engineer Armand Swart's murder resulted from typing mistakes rather than deliberate tampering. Swart died in April 2024 after gunmen mistakenly targeted him instead of a colleague who exposed corruption at Transnet. Investigators found omissions in the ballistics analysis that failed to mention 15 AK-47 cartridges and used incorrect case numbers.
Four weapons recovered after the shooting were connected to 24 additional violent crimes across South Africa. The ballistics unit faces a backlog of more than 41,000 pending cases with 29,000 firearms awaiting examination. Mkhabela defended his laboratory's work before the Madlanga Commission while acknowledging that evidence from Swart's autopsy arrived three months late. Detectives accused senior officers of attempting to interfere with the investigation.
Four weapons recovered after the shooting were connected to 24 additional violent crimes across South Africa. The ballistics unit faces a backlog of more than 41,000 pending cases with 29,000 firearms awaiting examination. Mkhabela defended his laboratory's work before the Madlanga Commission while acknowledging that evidence from Swart's autopsy arrived three months late. Detectives accused senior officers of attempting to interfere with the investigation.
