IPID hails tough sentences as police officers face justice.
Picture: File / The Citizen
The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) has confirmed two major convictions against police officers in Gauteng, with a Vereeniging lieutenant‑colonel sentenced to 20 years for murder and a Johannesburg constable and his brother each handed seven years for attempted murder.
The Gauteng High Court sitting in Palm Ridge on 16 September 2026 sentenced Lieutenant‑Colonel Christopher Mokoena of Vereeniging Saps to twenty years for the murder of Sibongiseni Cele in 2024.
Assault
It is alleged that Mokoena assaulted Cele on 3 March 2024 at around 7pm, accusing him of breaking into his property and stealing a television set and jewellery.
Ipid spokesperson Lizzy Suping said that after the assault, Mokoena called the police to his house but refused to open a case of trespassing against Cele, while Cele also refused to open an assault case against Mokoena.
“According to the police, Cele declined to be taken to hospital for medical treatment. He was found dead the following day, on 4 March 2024, at his home by a friend. Police were summoned to the scene. Apart from the 20‑year sentence, the High Court also declared Mokoena unfit to possess a firearm.”
Attempted murder
In a separate case, the Tembisa Regional Court sentenced Constable Kabelo Peace Maripane of the Johannesburg Rapid Rail Unit and his brother, Nape, to seven years each for the attempted murder of two civilians in Tembisa in 2019.
Constable Maripane was off duty at the time of the incident.
It is alleged that Constable Nape threatened three friends walking along Makulong Section in Tembisa on 14 September 2019 at approximately 2am, with his service firearm. He allegedly fired towards the three friends and left.
Shooting
Suping said Maripane, together with his brother, later returned to the area and opened fire at them.
“Two of the friends sustained multiple gunshot wounds to their upper bodies while the third escaped unharmed. The injured were transported to Tembisa Hospital for medical treatment.”
The court found the Maripane brothers guilty on 25 May 2026.
