Madlanga Commission hears Tau’s bail contingency plan: Witness A

Evidence leader Adv Mahlape Sello at the Madlanga Commission in Pretoria on October 20, 2025.

The Madlanga Commission has heard testimony that Warrant Officer Michael Tau planned to pay his way out of jail, escape, or even eliminate investigating officers involved in the murder case of Vereeniging engineer Armand Swart if he was denied bail.

Tau and his two accomplices, Danny Mabusela and Musa Kekana, were arrested in April last year in connection with Swart’s murder.

However, Tau was the only one granted bail in August last year.

Witness A, a detective who investigates crimes linked to criminal cartels, was part of the team that cracked the Swart murder case.

He has told the Commission that he learned of Tau’s release from an informant, Vusi Ndlala.

“As I called him, he said yes, I told you, the problem is when I tell you things you do not want to understand. Then he said I told you the problem is that you don’t want to listen to me when I tell you things. I asked him ‘How did you know?’ And he told me that he was called by (Organised Crime head) General (Richard) Shibiri that Tau had just been released in Vereeniging on bail of R10 000.”