TWO POLICE OFFICERS FOUND GUILTY OF CORRUPTION
LUTENDO LIVHEBE – MUDAU. Two accused William Mashute(35) and Ndoyisile Metile(39), members of the South African Police Service have been found guilty by the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court, sitting in the Hartswater Magistrates’ Court. The two were charged with the offence of corruption in terms of Section 4(1), which is with sections 1,2, and 26 of the Prevention and Combating of corrupt activities Act 12 of 2004. They were also charged with defeating and obstructing the administration of justice.
On 16 March 2020, the two officers who were stationed at the Boetsap Police Station, which is near the town of Warrenton, in the Northern Cape, were patrolling when they came across a suspect with stolen pipes/scrap metal and instead of arresting the suspect, the two police officers requested gratification of R2000 from the suspect. The officers not only failed to arrest the suspect but also allowed the suspect to drive away with those stolen items.
In mitigation of the sentence, the Prosecution led by State Adv. Lentswe Setouto argued that corruption should be taken seriously and that the accused as police officers and custodians of law and order should have known better. The accused ought to have adhered to the vows they made when they joined the SAPS, to protect and serve.
The court sentenced the two police officers to four years of imprisonment in terms of section 276(1)(i) of Act 51 of 1977. Their application for leave to appeal against their convictions was also denied by the court.
