Saps deny senior forensic ballistics analyst Makgotloe cleared after guilty finding

Suspended senior forensic South African Police Service (Saps) officer and ballistics expert Laurence Makgotloe. Picture: X/SABC. The police have denied reports that suspended senior forensic officer and ballistics expert Laurence Makgotloe has been cleared, as an internal disciplinary process found him guilty of two of four charges.

Makgotloe is accused of sabotaging the murder investigation into the death of Vereeniging engineer Armand Swart. He allegedly submitted false ballistics reports, removed a firearm and ammunition, and obstructed the investigation. Earlier on Tuesday, amedia report allegedthat the South African Police Service (Saps) had cleared Makgotloe.

The police, however, dismissed these claims as “false and misleading”. “While this remains an internal labour matter between the employer and the employee, Saps deems it necessary to correct the misinformation,” police national spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said. According to Mathe, an expedited internal disciplinary process against Makgotloe has been concluded.

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She said he was found guilty on two of the four charges brought against him. “Following the outcome of the disciplinary hearing, he was sanctioned accordingly,” Mathe added. The police arrested Makgotloe in May, and he is facing charges including defeating the ends of justice, being an accessory after the fact to murder and unlawful possession of ammunition in connection with Swart’s murder.

Swart, an employee of Q Tech Engineering Company, based in Vereeniging, was shot and killed while seated in his vehicle outside his workplace by two suspects who were driving a white Hyundai i20 on 17 April 2024. He sustained multiple gunshot wounds and was declared dead at the scene. It was reported that the suspects orchestrated the assassination to silence Swart after he blew the whistle on fraud and corruption linked to a Transnet tender contract.

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