Cape Town - One of the four police officers accused in the R20 million jewellery heist at a house in Llandudno said he was sexually harassed during detention.
Mthuthuzeli Mafanya took the witness stand on Monday in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court, as their bail application continued.
The constable and co-accused Jacobus Adriaan Groenewald, Bradley Dimitri Minnaar and Bathandwa Soldati were arrested in September after they raided a house in Llandudno.
The officers, who form part of the Operation Restore Unit and are stationed across Cape Town, are accused of staging a robbery.
During his testimony, Mafanya told the court that while he was being processed, he was touched inappropriately by a female officer.
“There was a warrant officer provoking and asking me improper questions, who also threatened me. Another one was busy with my fingerprints at the same time. They were disturbing me because I was also busy with the warning statement,” he said.
“Three people were busy with one person. While a captain was taking down my alibi, a female officer touched my breast.
“How can a female officer touch me like that? I didn’t open a case of sexual harassment but I informed my lawyer about what happened.”
He further detailed the “poor” treatment he received after handing himself over to the police.
“They (arresting officers) didn’t follow the procedure. They used this arrest as punishment. A colonel came to me and informed me of my rights and handcuffed me.
“It was painful and I asked them a simple question – if it was possible to loosen the cuffs because that is metal and when too tight you can’t loosen up. That was an assault case. Imagine the pain of having handcuffs from the police station and to my place of residence.”
Mafanya said he was taken to Wynberg police station for interrogation.
“I was in a dark cell, alone, with just a mattress. I was not given food.
“They wanted me to confess to something I didn’t do. I told them I will speak in court.”
Mafanya explained they had received a tip-off about the possibility of an abalone and drug syndicate and then went to the Llandudno house.
The informants later allegedly changed their story and told the officers that they had information that two Nigerian criminals were at the house.
One was allegedly sought by Interpol for cybercrimes and the other for allegedly renting a warehouse in Killarney Gardens where he kept drugs.
He told the court that when they went inside with the two informants, the occupants fled.
They proceeded to raid the house where they found empty Rolex and Cartier watch boxes.
Mafanya said he wasn’t surprised when he saw the empty boxes because he had seen a similar picture in Table View a few days before the Llandudno raid. They were arrested the following day and they are still in the process of applying for bail.
Mafanya asked the court to release him because he is a breadwinner and has a child and girlfriend to support.
He also said he has mental health issues and would like to be freed so he can continue taking medication that he has not been provided in Pollsmoor Prison.
mandilakhe.tshwete@inl.co.za