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The Pretoria magistrate’s court has granted bail of R15,000 to police ballistics analyst Capt Itumeleng Lawrence Makgotloe.
Makgotloe is accused of altering forensic reports to shield dangerous killers.
He was released from custody despite judge Johannes Kruger declaring that the state’s criminal case against him is “strong”.
The charges were serious, the judge said. “Public confidence in the police service is eroded when high-profile murders go unsolved due to manipulated forensic reporting.”
The state alleges Makgotloe intentionally changed gun-testing results, hid original case files in his home safe and used a specialised police unit to threaten detectives trying to seize his computer.
The explosive case is connected to the April 2024 murder of engineer Armand Swart in Vanderbijlpark. One of the alleged hitmen was a policeman, Michael Tau.
Prosecutor Velile Makasana said Makgotloe allegedly delayed the ballistics report and changed the findings. “Two independent police laboratories later ran separate tests, proving that Makgotloe left out critical evidence that linked those exact guns to the Swart murder and several other killings,” said Makasana.
“After finding multiple versions of the same report with different dates on his computer, detectives declared the office a crime scene.”
Makgotloe screamed that he was being “kidnapped”. A specialised police task team rushed in, pointed firearms at the detectives and forced them to leave without the computer evidence.
A later raid on Makgotloe’s home uncovered illegal shotgun rounds and a banned hollow-point bullet.
The state argued that this was not a one-time mistake, showing a pattern that mirrored a 2018 case where a husband hired a hitman to kill his wife for insurance money. “In that case, a sharp attorney noticed the distorted data and forced Makgotloe to fix it,” said Makasana.
Arguing against releasing the captain, he said: “The state’s case demonstrates a pattern of deliberate omissions. Manipulating forensic reporting directly protects dangerous criminals and compromises the entire justice system.”
Makgotloe’s attorney Emile Viviers denied that Makgotloe was a corrupt cop, blaming his workload instead.
“The errors found in the captain’s reports were not intentional. They were honest human typographical errors caused by a heavy workload and administrative pressure.”
The trial was postponed to August 20.
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