Six South African police officers in Cape Town have been arrested as part of an ongoing corruption investigation.
The Western Cape Anti-Corruption Unit arrested two sergeants and four constables, aged between 31 to 42, at the Maitland Flying Squad on Tuesday morning after a six-month investigation.
“They are accused of corrupt activities where boxes of abalone were seized from suspects on a number of occasions without making any arrests or handing in the abalone as exhibits. They are also accused of harbouring a corrupt relationship with persons on the wrong side of the law by escorting drugs with a police vehicle,” said police spokesperson, Colonel Andrè Traut.
The investigation was still under way, said Traut, and the “arrest of a seventh suspect is imminent”.
More charges could be brought against the officers. Traut said the officers had been suspended.
Western Cape police commissioner, Lieutenant General Thembisile Patekile, warned that “corrupt members masquerading as police officers will be brought to book”.
Western Cape Police Oversight and Community Safety MEC Reagen Allen commended the South African Police Service (SAPS) for arresting their members.
“There is no place for corrupt and inept officers in the SAPS. Arrests such as these will go a long way in restoring faith in the service,” He said.
“SAPS officers, be warned – engage in criminal activity, and you will suffer the consequence. We should allow the court proceedings to run its course, as all citizens have the right to a fair and just trial,” he added.
News24 previously reported that three Free State police officers were arrested for allegedly demanding a bribe at the Ficksburg border post. A Home Affairs official was also arrested.
The men are alleged to have confiscated a man’s passport and then solicited a R2 500 bribe from him.
Police officers Tsoloane Matthews Tsoloane, 36; Tsediso Lawrence Matsaneng, 36; and Home Affairs immigration officer Emmanuel Sebofi, 45, appeared in the Ficksburg Magistrate’s Court on Monday on charges of corruption and extortion.
Meanwhile, the Free State police’s Anti-Corruption Unit arrested a 44-year-old sergeant stationed at the Maseru border post on Monday over allegations that she accepted a bribe from a taxi driver.
