A suspended South African Police Service (Saps) sergeant has alleged that members of law enforcement set fire to his house while investigating the 2024 kidnapping of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) businessman Zakariyya Desai.
Samkeliso Honest Mlotshwa made the claims while testifying before Parliament’s ad hoc committee investigating corruption and political interference in the justice system on Friday, 13 March 2026.
Mlotshwa was arrested in Mozambique on 23 November 2024 in connection with the disappearance of Desai, who had been abducted in September of that year.
He was returned to South Africa days later, on 28 November, and was charged together with Mozambican nationals Esmael Maulide Ramos Nangy and Stefane Pereira Da Costa Brites.
The three were charged with kidnapping, extortion and attempted murder.
However, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) withdrew the charges against them in January 2025.
Samkeliso Mlotshwa recounts arson attack
Mlotshwa told the committee that his house in Matshulu, Mpumalanga, was set alight on 20 November 2024 while he was in Maputo attending to matters related to his funeral parlour business.
“The house was badly damaged,” he told the committee.
A caretaker reported the fire to the Matshulu police station the following day, and officers were dispatched to the scene at around 1:20pm.
However, when they arrived, they allegedly found officers from KZN Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), also known as the Hawks, already at the property.
“The affidavit of a sergeant is attached, where he states that they approached the house tactically due to the report saying the people were armed.
“On arrival at the house, the members were informed that the people were from KZN DPCI, and they were working on a kidnapping case,” Mlotshwa explained.
According to him, the Matshulu police officers then left the scene, and the time of the response was recorded in the station’s occurrence book.
Mlotshwa further revealed that he received a call on the same day the fire occurred from Saps anti-kidnapping unit head Ismael Dawood.
“He said I must release the victim,” the police officer said.
He added: “They arrested me after burning the house, so I believe they were just trying to cover up for what they did.”
Dispute over what caused the fire
Mlotshwa also disputed comments made by KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi during a televised interview in January 2025.
Mkhwanazi had claimed that the house had been burned down by community members who believed Desai had been held there.
But Mlotshwa rejected that explanation, saying the allegation was “false” and an attempt to hide what really happened.
“It’s not true,” he told the committee.
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The committee were shown the eNCA interview during the proceedings.
Mlotshwa insisted the commissioner’s statement did not reflect the events surrounding the incident.
“How can he say now that the house was burned before they came while his police officers forcefully gained entry into my house without having a warrant?”
Allegations of evidence tampering
Mlotshwa also referred to an affidavit by a Matshulu ward councillor that challenged the version presented by the KZN police commissioner.
The councillor described Mkhwanazi’s account as a “blatant lie”.
According to the affidavit, the police officers at the scene allegedly paid an Ethiopian tuckshop owner R2 000 for a digital video recorder (DVR) containing CCTV footage of the incident.
The tuckshop’s cameras reportedly faced Mlotshwa’s property and captured the events surrounding the fire.
However, Mlotshwa highlighted the DVR was never recorded in Saps evidence records.
“They were not gathering evidence; they were destroying evidence,” he told MPs.
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Mlotshwa also pointed to the burning of a vehicle belonging to Nangy.
The Mercedes-Benz was allegedly last seen at the premises of private security company Vision Tactical in Houghton, Gauteng, on 19 November – the same day Nangy and Brites, his brother-in-law and employee, were arrested.
The car was later found burned in KZN on 16 December 2024.
Mlotshwa suggested this indicated a pattern of arson linked to the case.
“It was their modus operandi.”
Mkhwanazi ‘playing victim’
The committee was also shown a separate interview in which Mkhwanazi spoke to EWN in April 2025 about the allegations of torture.
In the interview, Mkhwanazi distanced himself and claimed that the alleged abuse was carried out by members of the Hawks.
Mlotshwa disputes this, insisting that the KZN police commissioner was directly involved in the incident, which he alleges took place at an unknown farm on 9 December 2024.
“After our release [on 22 January 2025] and after we have opened the cases, his position changed.
“He is playing the victim game, saying the matter is for DPCI while he was fully active. He participated even in the torture.”
Meanwhile, Mlotshwa informed MPs that he is unaware of the current progress of the investigation into the house fire, adding that the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) is investigating allegations of torture, arson and defeating the ends of justice involving law enforcement officials.
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