Const Joshua Minenhle Makhaye, 27, charged with the theft of bank cards from a hijacked vehicle that ran over and killed an 11-year-old, had more than 270 cards in his possession, including some which were looted during the 2021 riots.
This emerged in the Durban magistrate's court on Tuesday where Makhaye, attached to the Cato Manor visible policing unit, faces four charges — possession of suspected stolen property, theft, fraud and obstructing justice by tampering with a crime scene at Chesterville.
Makhaye was arrested when he was found with a bank card taken during a hijacking in Queensburgh last month in which an 11-year-old, Zara Ramsamy, was run over and killed.
The grade 5 pupil at Penzance Primary School in Glenwood, died on September 11 when hijackers drove over her while she hid under her mother's Toyota Fortuner near the Queensburgh McDonald's.
The men demanded the keys and, realising what was happening, the 11-year-old girl hid under the car. The suspects jumped into the vehicle and while driving away ran over the child. She was taken to hospital, where she died from her injuries
Makhaye used the card belonging to Shaida Ramsamy — the child's mother — to buy about R1,000 worth of alcohol.
Last week prosecutor Calvin Govender told the court bank cards found in Makhaye's possession are linked to at least four courier vehicle hijackings.
But Hawks investigator W/O Sivan Naidoo told the court on Tuesday that Makhaye was found with a red metal box containing 272 new and used Absa, FNB, African Bank and Capitec credit cards, white plastic cards with magnetic strips, five cellphones, a police radio which wasn't issued to him and a stolen number plate.
Naidoo said a banking investigator hadn't finalised his investigation into the cards found in Makhaye's possession.
“The report will only be available on Friday. However, he did confirm how some cards were taken from Bridge City mall during the looting in 2021,” said Naidoo.
Naidoo also told the court while Makhaye was not present at the September hijacking — he drove the recovered car from the crime scene to the Malvern police station — they were investigating whether he could be linked to a gang of criminals linked to the primary crime.
At the time of his arrest, provincial police spokesperson Col Robert Netshiunda said they were concerned about media reports linking Makhaye to the hijacking incident in which the child died.
Naidoo told the court Makhaye had family members who are high-ranking within the police force.
“According to the intelligence there was reliable information of pressure from the family for the matter to be heard in the Pinetown magistrate's court so it could be struck off the roll. This was confirmed by the Malvern branch commander,” said Naidoo.
However, Makhaye denied this claim, saying his only link with law enforcement was his grandmother who was a member of the community policing forum. He countered Naidoo was related to Ramsamy, which the policeman denied.
Naidoo also told the court that while the accused had no brushes with the law on record, he had a drug abuse problem.
He said the charges levelled against Makhaye were serious and a matter of public concern.
“They [public] are losing faith in the police due to a few corrupt ones and the honest ones are attacked and not respected,” said Naidoo.
Makhaye claimed he was unaware he had used Ramsamy's card and was willing to pay back the money he used to purchase liquor.
This was contained in affidavit read out his attorney Zolani Duma.
He said Ramsamy's bank card had been taken by mistake from her car which was recovered and he drove to the police station.
“My client only discovered the card did not belong to him after using it and not receiving a bank transaction notification from his bank. He did not recall where he took the card from and was willing to pay back the money,” said Duma.
Duma confirmed Makhaye had undergone a 21-day recovery programme for his drug addiction, saying some of Makhaye’s actions were a result of his problem.
He said he was not using this as an excuse, but was taking the court into his confidence. He vowed he was not a flight risk, saying his alternative address should he be granted bail would be in Pietermaritzburg.
He said Makhaye, a father a of two-year-old, supported his family and was assaulted and had a rifle pointed at him during his arrest.
He maintained his innocence and said the bank cards found in his possession belonged to his late grandfather Davis Goldstone who died in August 2022.
He said Goldstone worked for an unidentified courier company, and he did not know how he obtained them.
He said in respect of the stolen number plate, Duma said he previously owned a vehicle which he later sold, but he was unable to change the ownership.
The case was adjourned to Monday.
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