A 42-year-old police constable from Mpumalanga and his friend‚ aged 43‚ have been arrested by the Hawks’ Serious Corruption Unit and Crime Intelligence‚ after they tried to extort money from two lawyers in a fake assassination investigation.
The constable’s partner in crime is alleged to have approached two attorneys between November 2016 and January 2017 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”. He continued updating the attorneys on the status of “the case”.
On one occasion‚ the man allegedly 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‚" SAPS Captain Dineo Lucy Sekgotodi said in a statement‚ before explaining how the bust went down.
The case was escalated to the Hawks and investigation ensued‚ she said.
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‚ 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 (unsuccessfully) to take the money out of his pocket and throw it on the ground."
He was found to be a constable who was stationed at Tonga police station.
The two have been arrested for corruption and are due to appear before the Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court.
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