Five members of the South African Police Service were arrested in Vereeniging and Welkom by the Hawks in two separate incidents of fraud.
The arrests of the officers, aged between 38 and 50, happened this week, and in the first incident, a 47-year-old female Lieutenant Colonel was arrested in Vereeniging for fraud.
The officer was promoted to Lt. Col in 2012, and upon resuming her duties, she did not reside in Kestell. Instead, reportedly travelling in an official vehicle to and from work between Bethlehem and Kestell.
Months later, she allegedly submitted a claim for resettlement costs to the amount of over R19 000, without having relocated to Kestell. The resettlement cost is a benefit given to members who have been appointed to a post outside their primary place of residence.
The matter was referred to members of the Serious Corruption Investigation Unit based in Bloemfontein, who presented a strong case before the court.
As a result, a warrant for her arrest was issued, and she will appear before the Kestell Magistrate’s Court on 12 July 2023.
In another incident, four members attached to the Kroonstad K9 Unit and Zamdela SAPS are alleged to have taken money to the tune of R1 million, which they had recovered from members of the public who had stolen it during a cash-in-transit heist in Sasolburg in 2022.
Instead of registering the recovered money at the SAPS store, these police officials pocketed the money.
Said the police: “After a meticulous investigation by the Welkom Serious Corruption team, a warrant for their arrest was issued and executed on 29 June. The four suspects will appear in the Sasolburg Magistrates`Court today facing charges of theft, defeating the ends of justice, and money laundering.”
The arrest of a fifth suspect, who is also a member of the SAPS, is imminent.
Free State Head of the Hawks, Major General Mokgadi Bokaba, said he was dismayed by the behaviour of the officers, who did not think twice about betraying their oath.
“We are relentless in our efforts to root out corruption, including within our ranks. It is our constitutional duty to rid the system of rotten elements and restore the confidence of South Africans in the police. Rest assured, there will be more arrests to follow as we stamp our independence and that of the state,” said Bokaba.
Meanwhile, the independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) in Gauteng has investigated murder against members of SAPS attached to Ekurhuleni District Tracing Unit.
On the 9th of February 2022, at 09:00, 31-year-old Constable Mulalo Lucky Mudau took a marked police vehicle and went to Tembisa Hospital, where his girlfriend, 31-year-old Lebogang Monene, worked as a nurse.
There, Mudau fatally shot Monene after they argued outside the hospital before turning the gun on himself.
Monene was declared dead at the scene, while Mudau was airlifted to Millpark clinic with a bullet wound on the cheek.
Ipid national spokesperson Robbie Raburabu said Mudau has since been charged with the murder of Monene, and he pleaded guilty to murder on 17 April 2023. He was sentenced, to 25-year imprisonment, wholly suspended for five years due to his current medical condition, yesterday at the South Gauteng High Court.
ntombi.nkosi@inl.co.za