Suspended police sergeant Fannie Nkosi should not be in possession of any state property since he is on suspension.
This is according to police spokesperson, Brig Athlenda Mathe, who was speaking to reporters outside the Pretoria North magistrate’s court on Tuesday, shortly after Nkosi’s brief first court appearance.
Nkosi was arrested after police raided his home last Thursday and spent the Easter weekend behind bars. He is facing charges of theft, possession of ammunition and defeating the ends of justice.
During the raid at his home last week, police found six dockets, the presence of which Mathe said raised serious concerns.
“What we found is that all six dockets, when you look at the system, are closed as undetected. So, through investigation, when you close a docket as undetected, it means you cannot find any links, there’s no new information, and the case is then closed as undetected, and it is archived. When a case is archived, it is not allowed to be in the possession of an investigating officer. So it should be in a storage facility at that particular police station,” she said.
She added that teams have been deployed to investigate how Nkosi came into possession of the dockets.
“So our team now has been deployed to the various police stations where these dockets were registered, just to ascertain how he got a hold of these dockets, what are they doing in his possession and what role he played and so on,” she said.
Five of the dockets found at Nkosi’s home were originals, and one is a copy, Mathe said.
“Of the six dockets, it’s CIT robberies, one that happened in Roodepoort, one in Musina, Limpopo; there are two other car hijacking cases. So most of the dockets, all of them actually, it pertains to serious and violent crime.”
She said police also found a substantial amount of cash at Nkosi’s home.
“We also found in his possession a large amount of money which he couldn’t account for, but our team is continuing with investigations as to where this money comes from and why it was not in the bank,” she said.
Nkosi made his first court appearance on Tuesday and will remain in custody after his attempt to apply for bail was delayed after the state asked for a postponement to conduct further investigations related to the bail application.
Nkosi, who previously testified for several days before the Madlanga commission, had intended to proceed with a bail application.
His legal team argued that he does not feel safe in custody, however the magistrate granted the state’s application for a postponement to allow for further investigation and preparation for a formal bail hearing.
The matter was postponed to Monday.
Mathe detailed other findings made during the search of Nkosi’s home.
“They executed the J51 search and seizure warrant and on arrival they found seven firearms that are licensed and belong to Sgt Fannie Nkosi. What was of concern is that four of the firearms were in the safe,” she said.
Mathe said according to the Firearms Control Act, all firearms must be locked up in a safe which must be installed and mounted on a wall or on the floor and not easily removable.
“That was the first charge of contravention of the Firearms Control Act in which the safe where the four firearms were found was not mounted on a wall or on the floor,” she said.
Mathe said further contraventions were uncovered during the search.
“They then found three other firearms. They found the 38 special revolver in between the mattresses in his room, which is another contravention because all firearms must be in the safe. They then found another firearm under his bed which is another contravention. They then found another pistol in one of his cars, which is another contravention,” she said.
Police also recovered various rounds of ammunition, including AK-47 rounds and 9mm ammunition.
“They found multiple rounds of ammunition — 35 AK-47 rounds, your nine millimetre, R5 rounds and so on. But of concern as well is that they also found state-issued ammunition,” she said.
Mathe said since Nkosi was suspended on March 28, he had an obligation to hand over all state property and him being in possession of state property and ammunition amounts to defeating the ends of justice and theft.
“He shouldn’t be in possession of state property if he is on suspension.”
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