Police recently arrested one of their own for alleged corruption. A police captain was granted R6 000 bail by the Randburg Magistrates’ Court.
The officer, Captain Charles Samuels who is stationed at Linden Police Station, is facing one charge of corruption after he had allegedly solicited and accepted a R9 000 bribe from the father of an alleged drunk driver.
The transaction is understood to have taken place at Cresta Shopping Centre on 16 February.
The bail condition included that he has to report to his local police station twice a week (on a Tuesday and Friday), not to contact any of the witnesses and he also had to hand over his passport to the state. The accused officer told the court that his local police station is Rosebank Police Station and that is where he will be reporting.
According to Gauteng Police spokesperson, Colonel Lungelo Dlamini, the police captain allegedly met with the father of an alleged drunk driver (who was in custody) at Cresta where he was given the money.
The officer was arrested immediately after the transaction took place.
Dlamini said the police service is working tirelessly to clean up its house and get rid of bad apples to make sure they do not have any corrupt elements within. He said although Samuels has not been found guilty of any crime at the moment, he pointed out that any police officer found guilty of a crime will not be allowed to serve in the police service. Dlamini could not immediately confirm if Samuels is suspended or still reporting for duty.
During the first and brief appearance before Regional Magistrate Theolopsy Leshabane, the accused officer appeared unfazed by the charge against him. Two of his family members who were in court appeared to be distraught.
State prosecutor Linda Dlamini told the court that the state was not opposed to bail. She also told the court that the accused was facing a Schedule 1 offence. The state asked the court to set bail at R10 000.
The defence attorney told the court that the accused’s family had only R5 000 with them but said they would not restrict the court on the amount it wanted to set for bail. Leshabane set the bail at R6 000.
The case against Samuels has been remanded to 26 March for further investigations.
