The Hawks in Gauteng arrested two of their own, together with a detective from Hillbrow Police Station.
The three police officials were arrested on 18 December by the Hawks for an alleged armed robbery. All three suspects appeared in Johannesburg Magistrates’ Court on 19 December where their case was postponed to 27 December for a formal bail application.
According to the spokesperson for Gauteng Hawks, Captain Ndivhuwo Mulamu, the trio are accused of allegedly stealing R1 million in an armed robbery in Edenvale and Hillbrow. It is understood that there were fourth accomplices involved in the robbery. The fourth suspect, who is also a police officer, is on the run and the Hawks are tracking him down.
Mulamu said, “Their arrest follows allegations that in September, four police officials driving in two vehicles stopped a motor car in Norwood alleging that the driver was driving recklessly. The driver insisted that they proceeded to the nearest police station.”
The driver was then instructed to follow the officers in his vehicle to Norwood Police Station where a vehicle search was conducted. “The four suspects allegedly found two boxes full of cash including a receipt indicating the total amount which the victim had exchanged for his employer.”
The suspects and victim then allegedly left the police precinct and proceeded to the Johannesburg Specialised Commercial Crimes Court building in Eloff Street. “They allegedly offloaded the two boxes and entered one of the offices where they shared the R1 million among themselves and returned the remainder to the driver.”
An investigation followed after the matter was referred by police to the Hawks which resulted in the arrest of the three suspects.
The Gauteng head of the Hawks, Major General Prince Mokotedi expressed shock and disappointment. Mokotedi said, “However, I am grateful and congratulate members of the police for the courage of arresting their own.”
The suspects included Warrant Officer Tefo Maimane (49) and Warrant Officer Eric Melaphi (41) from the Hawks Serious Commercial Crimes and detective Constable Khumbulo Gadivhana (36) from Hillbrow Police Station.
“Since we implemented a zero tolerance to corruption, we have arrested 102 police officials in Gauteng from March 2016 to date. The Serious Corruption Investigation Unit was beefed up with 18 members and we are now reaping the fruits of arresting corrupt individuals.
“I want to warn unscrupulous members that we will not relax until the Hawks, particularly in Gauteng, gets rid of all the bad elements. The blue wall is greatly impeding our success to tackle organised crime. Once broken, our progress to bust crime syndicates will be accelerated.”
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