Jail for corrupt Cape Town cops who took R1,000 bribe from drug dealer

Two Cape Town police officers were sentenced to three years in jail for accepting bribes from a drug dealer.

When Mitchells Plain policemen Sgt Ryan Hopkins and Cst Malibongwe Ndzendze tried to solicit a bribe from drug dealer Moegamat Garrett, instead of "calling his people" as instructed by the officers he called another policewoman warrant officer Nadine Britz. 

He alerted Britz, now a captain, that Ndzendze told him that they needed to "talk like grown-ups" after they found several packets of tik in his backyard. He ended up paying them R1,000 each in exchange for his release.

According to National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila, the accused were handed six-year sentences, of which three years were suspended, by the Bellville Specialised Crimes Court on Tuesday.

They were convicted on May 29 after a protracted trial.

"It was revealed during the trial that the two arrived at the drug dealer's house at 44 Bitou Street, Eastridge, Mitchells Plain," said Ntabazalila.

Garrett was not at home, but his wife called him and told him the officers were searching the premises for drugs, said Ntabazalila. 

When he got home the two officers confronted him about the drugs found in the back garden.