DJ Sumbody murder trial pushed to July 2027 as co-accused face the Cat Matlala case first

Almost four years after DJ Sumbody was shot dead in Woodmead, the trial of the four men accused of his murder will not start before 19 July 2027.

The case was due to begin in the Johannesburg High Court on Monday. Instead, Judge Thifhelimbilu Phanuel Mudau postponed it for nine months, because two of the accused are already tied up in another trial that has to finish first.

Who is accused

Katiso "KT" Molefe, Michael Pule Tau, Tiego Floyd Mabusela and Musa Kekana face 35 charges, including murder, conspiracy to commit murder and the unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition. The State alleges that Molefe orchestrated the killing of Oupa Sefoka, the amapiano DJ and businessman known as DJ Sumbody, who was killed with his two bodyguards on 20 November 2022.

Prosecutors say the case is connected to other killings, including those of DJ Vintos (Hector Buthelezi) and Armand Swart, a Vereeniging engineer. According to the National Prosecuting Authority, forensic evidence links the rifles used to kill Sefoka to those other murders.

Molefe is out on R400,000 bail, granted by the same court in October 2025. His three co-accused remain in custody.

Why it was moved

Mabusela and Kekana are also accused in the separate trial involving Vusimuzi "Cat" Matlala, which is partly heard and has some of the same lawyers and prosecution team. The court heard that the two cases cannot run side by side. The State expects the Matlala matter to resume in the first term of 2027 and to finish by the end of the second term.

"We are unfortunately proceeding at a glacial pace there," the prosecutor told the court, according to Sowetan.

The defence did not oppose the postponement.

A judge who wants it done in one go

Mudau said he would not allow the case to drag on term by term. He wants the parties ready for continuous proceedings from July 2027, even if that takes two or three terms. EWN reported that he pointed to the Senzo Meyiwa trial, which has run for four years, as the example to avoid.

"The trial must start," he said. "If it means the whole year, let it be."

He also warned that without that commitment, "you'll be running a trial for the next five years".

The court agreed in principle to change one of Molefe's bail conditions so that he can travel within South Africa for business. He must still report to a police station three times a week, and he has to give the State five working days' notice of where he is going so that it can name the station where he reports.