‘Yes’: Khumalo admits SAPS members may know who murdered DJ Warras, Deokaran and Witness D

Crime Intelligence boss, Lieutenant General Dumisani Khumalo, said there was a possibility that some of the SAPS members may have known who was behind the assassinations of Warrick “DJ Warras” Stock, Babita Deokaran, and Marius van der Merwe - Witness D.

Khumalo made the admission while responding to questions from Soviet Lekganyane, chairperson of Parliament’s ad hoc committee probing police failures.

Asked directly whether police officers could have had intelligence about the killings of these figures — and others whose names were not publicly raised — Khumalo answered in the affirmative.

“Yes,” Khumalo told the committee, citing past operational experience in which police officers themselves were implicated in politically linked murders.

He referred to several cases in KwaZulu-Natal where on-duty police officers were allegedly hired to carry out hits.

“That's exactly why my response has been a yes because I was saying, looking at our experiences, in one of the cases, I think there are about three or four cases, politically related cases in KZN, we had two members of the shift that were hired,” he said.

Lekganyane pressed further, referencing the 2017 murder of former ANC Youth League secretary Sindiso Magaqa and questioning whether SAPS members may have known about the killing because the firearm used reportedly originated from crime intelligence structures.

Khumalo responded that such experiences informed his conclusion.

The remarks followed Khumalo’s testimony on Thursday that criminal syndicates had deeply penetrated SAPS structures, particularly in Gauteng.

He alleged that highly trained police units were moonlighting for cartels, providing protection and enforcement services outside official duties. In some operations, suspects allegedly told officers they had “worked together before.”

On Friday, Khumalo sought to clarify that his statement suggesting “almost the entire SAPS in Gauteng” was compromised was not a literal count, but reflected repeated operational sabotage and the steady emergence of officers linked to criminal networks across all ranks.

Deokaran, a Gauteng health department official and whistleblower, was assassinated outside her home on August 23, 2021 after flagging irregular contracts worth hundreds of millions of rand.

DJ Warras was fatally shot in an apparent targeted attack in Johannesburg CBD on December 16, 2025.

Merwe was shot multiple times in full view of his family outside their Brakpan home on December 5, 2025.

This after he testified in-camera at the Madlanga Commission as alleging a murder cover-up involving high-ranking EMPD officials including the suspended chief, Julius Mkhwanazi.

These deaths come amid a national murder rate averaging more than 70 killings a day and a growing backlog of unresolved cases, particularly those linked to organised crime and political interests.

Khumalo has concluded his two-day testimony and the hearing will continue on Tuesday.

[email protected]

IOL Politics