Popcru CEO implicated in murder plot to spend the night behind bars

Police union boss Zwelinkosi Reuben Mdletshe and his co-accused, Robert Sherriff, are set to spend the night behind bars, the Hawks said on Tuesday.

The two earlier appeared in the Kempton Park magistrate’s court, where their case was postponed to November 20, said Capt Dineo Sekgotedi.

“Mdletshe, 55, and Sherriff, 50, briefly appeared in the Kempton Park magistrate's court today [Tuesday] after they were arrested by members of the Hawks Serious Corruption Investigation Unit and Serious Organised Crime Investigation Unit. [They are] facing charges of conspiracy to kidnap and murder senior Popcru officials.

“Their case is postponed to Wednesday for a formal bail application. The suspects will be joining their co-accused, Neo Letele, 34, who was arrested last week," Sekgotedi said.

The two men were arrested on Tuesday after days on a police "wanted list". Letele was allegedly the middleman in a plot to kill Popcru members.

Sekgotedi said the two men had handed themselves over in the presence of their lawyers.

Mdletshe and Sherriff were linked to an alleged plot to kidnap and murder prominent union officials. This was allegedly in a bid to cover up links to corruption, the Hawks said last week.

Explaining the context of the case, Brig Hangwani Muluadzi said their probe into the two men started in September.

“It was revealed there was apparent misappropriation of funds that was carried out through Popcru Investment Group of Companies (PIGC). These substantial transactions were allegedly embezzled since 2016,” he said.

The alleged murder plot was unravelled when a man, said to have been hired to carry out the killings, was arrested.

“A Lesotho national, Neo Letele, was arrested in Kempton Park on November 6. Letele is apparently the middleman who was instructed to source the assassin, who was to be paid R1m to execute the hit. This was in an attempt to silence those who wanted the two suspects to account for the funds,” said Mulaudzi.

Letele has appeared in court twice and returns to court on Wednesday, when he will appear beside his co-accused.

SowetanLIVE reported on Monday that more than R100m which was meant to benefit members of the police and other public safety workers had disappeared from PIGC, the investment arm of the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru).