MPUMALANGA: A 42-year-old police constable and his 43-year-old friend were arrested by the Hawks’ Serious Corruption Unit and Crime Intelligence for corruption on Friday.
It is alleged that between November 2016 and January 2017 the Constable’s partner in crime approached two Attorneys and told them that there were people who wanted to kill them and that a case was opened at Tonga SAPS, investigated by the “Captain”. The suspect continued updating the attorneys on the status of “the case”.
In one occasion the man told the victims that two suspects who wanted to kill them were arrested and that the Captain would like to have “ISIBONGO”, to be thanked for the good job he had done in saving their lives. One day the Captain also called the victims personally and they asked him how much money he would like to be given as “ISIBONGO”, he told them that they could pay any amount depending on affordability. The victims decided to report the matter to the police station where they were told that such case did not exist.
The matter was escalated to the Hawks and investigation ensued. An undercover operation was conducted and the two suspects and the victims arranged a meeting in which the ISIBONGO money was to be paid. The suspects arrived as arranged and they were given R16 000.00 which was received by the so Called Captain.
When the Hawks pounced on the suspects, the ‘Captain’ was found with the cash in his pockets, although he tried at no avail to take the money out of his pocket and threw it on the ground. Investigation revealed that the ‘Captain’ was in fact a constable who was stationed at Tonga police station. The two were subsequently nabbed for corruption and will appear before the Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court on Monday, 23 January 2017.