PIENAAR – Two police constables, Gladwell Kganyane (37) and Peter Mgwenya (32) briefly appeared before Kanyamazane Magistrate’s Court for allegedly soliciting a bribe from suspects found dealing in dagga.
It is reported that the constables from Pienaar police station acted on information received from members of the community about a vehicle that was coming from Swaziland to deliver dagga at a certain house in Pienaar. A search for the said vehicle was instituted allegedly by the constables, and was spotted with four occupants and pulled off the road for a search. The search resulted in the recovery of four plastic containers filled with dagga. All the occupants denied ownership of the loot and were taken to the police station.
One of the occupants later launched a complaint at the station that he had paid R2 000 to the police officials after they found the dagga and confiscated it. The allegations by the occupants now referred to as a complainant on this case, were probed and it was discovered that the dagga which was seized was not registered in the exhibit register. The complainant further pointed out that the two during an identification parade as the ones who seized the dagga and solicited the bribe from him. Kganyane and Mgwenya were then nabbed and charged with theft and defeating the ends of justice.
During their court appearance they were each released on R2 000 each and are expected to appear again on September 3 pending further investigation.
The Provincial Commissioner of Mpumalanga, Lt Gen (Adv) Mark Dumisa Magadlela has vowed that police officials who have an unpalatable and disgraceful behaviour are not welcomed in the service. “The arrest of the two constables clearly shows that we are committed to fight any form of crime without any fear of a person’s status. Any form of ill discipline by our members will not be tolerated. All those who do not behave according to our prescripts will be dealt with accordingly”, he warned.
