CCTV footage showing what appears to be a female police officer giving a seemingly drunk driver a hand job, while her male colleague accepts a bribe, has taken centre stage in the duo’s trial for corruption, public indecency and prostitution.
Yesterday, Constable Alva Kgomo, 32, and Sergeant Ernst Dlomo, 40, who appeared in the Alexandra Magistrate’s Court in Johannesburg, maintained their innocence, claiming they had merely been assisting the driver who was looking for an ATM.
They have both pleaded not guilty.
But the state is buying none of it.
Its version is that, in the early hours of May 3 last year, the two uniformed officers stopped a BMW driver, Thomas Haasbroek, and when they wanted to charge him with drunk driving, he negotiated a bribe. Kgomo then got into the man's car and followed Dlomo to an ATM, it adds.
Relying on CCTV footage from the parking lot in Eastrand Mall in Boksburg, the state claims Haasbroek, a Krugersdorp businessman believed to be in his 50s, then handed Dlomo R550 which he withdrew from an ATM, while Kgomo gave Haasbroek a “hand job” outside their official police vehicle.
But yesterday the two officers, who have been suspended, denied they were bribed, saying they had helped Haasbroek, who had asked for directions to an ATM to draw money for diesel and that he could not see because he didn't have his glasses with him
Dlomo told the court that what appeared to be money changing hands was actually bank receipts and, while the state claimed he was captured counting the money, he said he was actually tearing up the bank receipts.
And Kgomo denied giving the man a sexual favour, saying she had instead been playing with her jacket when Haasbroek was standing close to her with his penis exposed.
Kgomo's added that Haasbroek inappropriately touched her shoulder and back, but she did not reciprocate.
“I told him not to touch me in that manner because I am in uniform, he said he was just thanking me and showing me love because he was grateful for my help,” she said.
The state also believes Kgomo received an R8 000 Samsung cellphone from Haasbroek, who was called as a state witness.
Prosecutor Percy Ramushu accused Dlomo of not only accepting the bribe but of knowing what Kgomo planned to do with Haasbroek.
The case will resume in August.
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