/ 26 March 2008

Missing charge sheet sets ‘corrupt’ constables free

Thirteen reserve constables charged with corruption were set free after they appeared in the Komatipoort Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.

This was because the prosecutor had misplaced the charge sheet, said Mpumalanga police spokesperson Leonard Hlathi.

The 13 were arrested last Wednesday after border-control officers found 26 Mozambican aliens hiding under the seats of a bus returning to South Africa.

Hlathi said the constables allegedly received bribes from the Mozambicans they were deporting so that the latter could return to South Africa.

”At least 339 Mozambicans arrested around Gauteng were being deported from Lindela [repatriation centre] in buses. But along the way, they hatched a plan with the 13 reserve constables guarding them.”

Some of the foreigners allegedly paid R200 to R300, while those who did not have cash used their cellphones as payment. Others allegedly promised to pay when they reached Waterval-Boven.

”The bus went to off-load those who did not pay, and those who paid for their return to South Africa remained in one of the buses,” said Hlathi.

They were hiding under the bus seats when border police stopped the vehicles and insisted on searching them. They were arrested.

Police were very disappointed by the negligence ”caused by prosecutor Abraham Mohlabe” as they would need to start their investigations from scratch in order to put the case back on the court roll, Hlathi said. ”State resources are going to be wasted here because the suspects are all the way from Alexandra, Everton and Sebokeng.”

Twenty-six foreigners acting as witnesses were still being detained, but they could not be kept for long as they needed to be deported back to Mozambique. ”This puts the case in jeopardy,” Hlathi said. — Sapa