KT Molefe-linked Free State airport project a front?

A questionable business deal between the Matjhabeng municipality and a company established by alleged gangster Katiso ‘KT’ Molefe has raised eyebrows and sparked concerns that it may be a front.

Sebastien Investment and Logistics was in 2023 awarded a contract to renovate and develop the Welkom Airport. The company reportedly pledged more than R200 billion in investments through this project.

According to the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission, a company bearing a strikingly similar but wrongly spelled name (Sebastien Investissements and logistique) was registered in August that year, a day after the tender was advertised by the municipality and less than a month before its closing date for submissions.

The tender was awarded seemigly to the company on 17 November, as no other Sebastien Investment and Logistics was registered as a company at the time.

“Why would a company with absolutely no track record in the aviation field or proof [of funds] be able to pledge an amount of money to one project that is the same value of the entire Free State economy?” DA MP Igor Scheurkogel asked during a conversation with The Citizen.

Scheurkogel claimed to have insider information that the airport would be “used for a front and they [Sebastien] do not care about the development or jobs around it, just about getting their ‘goods’ in and out.”

These claims could not be independently verified by The Citizen.

Molefe’s status as director of the company was changed to “resigned” in July this year, the same month he was arrested in connection with the 2022 murder of Oupa John Sefoka, also known as DJ Sumbody.

He was released on R400 000 bail two weeks ago. His status was later changed to “new appointment” but he is not currently listed as a director of the company.

Attempts to get comment from the company and Molefe were unsuccessful at the time of publishing. Meanwhile, Sebastien Investment Group was registered as a company last month, with Yvonne Reece as its sole director.

Reece last week reportedly claimed the company had “brought Welkom Airport to Majhabeng” and stressed the company’s commitment to uplifting the surrounding communities through training and health care, logistics and social services investments.

Questions go unanswered 

The DA in Matjhabeng said it had requested information from the municipality about the business deal behind the airport but its questions have been left unanswered. 

“We submitted a formal PAIA (Promotion of Access to Information Act) request to the office of the municipal manager in April 2025. To date, this request has not been honoured,” said DA councillor Estelle Dansey.

“Thereafter we referred the matter to Parliament as prescribed in the PAIA request.”

The municipality has not responded to The Citizen’s request for comment. Any update will be included once received.

Dansey said each time she inquired about Molefe’s involvement in the project, the municipality dismissed it as “mere rumours”.

It is still not clear how much Sebastian will be paying to lease the airport from the municipality.

“According to the Matjhabeng municipality, the Welkom cargo airport falls under their authority to lease,” Dansey said.

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State being ‘looted’

Rise Mzansi chief organiser Makashule Gana told The Citizen that recent commissions and court cases have “shown that the state is being looted”.

“⁠There remain people in society who continue to use their political connections to benefit from the government. It is something we must continue uprooting in our country across all levels of government.”

“I believe the courts have satisfied themselves that he [KT] has met the criteria to be granted bail. When an accused is granted bail, it does not mean that they are innocent of the crimes they are accused of,” he said.

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