Cape Town - A Mowbray cop accused of stealing money related to clearance certificates is set to make his first appearance in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court after he was arrested by the Anti-Corruption Unit over the weekend.
The constable who was caught in a sting operation is the fifteenth Western Cape cop to be arrested over the last month as the unit has clamped down on officers accused of breaking the law.
According to a Cape Argus source the unit was alerted to strange activities when it was revealed that no money had been retrieved for criminal clearance certificates despite applications being made.
“He is responsible for doing the criminal clearance certificates at the station. Any individual who is applying needs to pay an R85 fee either by cash or EFT. This fee does not apply to neighbourhood watch patrollers as they get this service for free. So when he did applications for private individuals he marked them as patrollers and pocketed the money. It is not clear how many applications he has done so far like this.”
Police spokesperson Wesley Twigg, confirmed the arrest and said: “The Western Cape Anti-Corruption Unit arrested the 36-year-old constable after they received information that he took cash from members of the public who applied for name clearance certificates.
“A sting operation was conducted and the member was subsequently arrested this morning. He will appear in the Wynberg Magistrates’ court on Monday on the mentioned charge,” said Twigg.
In recent weeks the unit has arrested a total of 15 cops for an array of crimes including house robberies worth R20 million, the extortion of business owners in Milnerton and other crimes. Rafique Foflonker of the Western Cape Provincial Community Police Forum Board says they welcome the arrests.
“Investigations leading to the arrest of police members require integrity and dedication and clearly there are many great police officers working hard to root out criminality in the ranks. As a community, we must praise them and support their efforts,” he said.
Provincial police commissioner, Lieutenant General Thembisile Patekile said that he notes with concern and disappointment, the issue of corruption within the South African Police Service in the Province.
mahira.duval@inl.co.za
Cape Argus