The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) News has reliably learnt that the police officer who failed to link the gun in the Armand Swart murder to several other murder and attempted murder cases has been cleared of wrongdoing on two charges and found guilty on two others by an internal South African Police Service (SAPS) disciplinary hearing.
An expedited disciplinary process found forensic analyst, Captain Laurence Makgotloe, guilty of dishonesty in issuing a corrected ballistic report and changing the dates on which the report was corrected.
In the second charge, Makgotloe was found guilty of contravening the SAPS code of conduct by failing to use resources to identify a firearm that was handed to him.
He has been placed on suspension for a month, and his salary will be docked for that month.
In the matter before the courts, a state forensic expert testified that Makgotloe deviated from standard operating procedures (SOP) by sending out unreviewed, error-riddled ballistic reports.
The internal disciplinary outcome relates only to the internal SAPS process and does not affect the separate criminal case against Makgotloe, which remains before the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court.
The criminal trial will be before the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court again on August 20 for further proceedings. -Reporting by Ofentse Setimo
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