Crimes of the South African Police Service

Police intimidates Madonsela

Sunday, July 10, 2011

2011 07 08 – AfriForum asks UN Human Rights Special Rapporteur’s help after proof that Police intimidates Madonsela

By Alana Bailey on July 8, 2011

[Photo: Mail & Guardian]

AfriForum has sent an urgent request to the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur for Human Rights Defenders, Margaret Sekaggya, in which she is asked to demand of the South African government that the government protect the Public Protector, Adv Thuli Madonsela, against police intimidation. AfriForum’s request follows after the newspaper The Star today published documents that prove that the South African Police Service (SAPS) indeed are busy investigating Adv Madonsela.

In terms of the UN’s “Declaration on Human Rights Defenders”, the UN’s Special Rapporteur for Human Rights Defenders has the mandate to intervene internationally when “human rights defenders” are being intimidated, harassed or slandered. As the UN’s definition of “human rights defenders” also includes all who endeavour to ensure healthy government practices and combat the abuse of power and corruption, it definitely falls within the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur to ensure that the South African Public Protector is protected against police intimidation.

In terms of her mandate, the UN Special Rapporteur is able to send an urgent letter of appeal to the South African government to request that steps should be taken to ensure the safeguarding of the Public Protector.

According to Kallie Kriel, CEO of AfriForum, his organisation decided to call for international assistance because the South African government continues denying the intimidation campaign and the police investigation, rather than to take action to ensure that the Public Protector is protected against those targeting her and her office.

Kriel added that AfriForum has inter alia informed the UN Special Rapporteur that the current police investigation against Madonsela is but one element of a much broader intimidation campaign, aimed at preventing the Public Protector from continuing to expose the unlawful awarding of lease agreements in the SAPS. The UN Special Rapporteur has also been informed by AfriForum about the unlawful raid conducted by the SAPS on the Public Protector’s offices and that suspicion exists that illegal access to the computer of a senior investigative official of the Public Protector’s office had been obtained by the SAPS. In addition the Special Rapporteur has been told that this is not the first example of the SAPS trying to intimidate people whose legal conduct is not to their liking. The journalist, Mzilikazi wa Africa, for example was arrested in 2010 within days of publishing an article criticising General Cele,” Kriel said.

http://www.afriforum.co.za/english/2011-07-08-afriforum-vra-vn-menseregtegesant-se-hulp-na-bewyse-dat-die-polisie-madonsela-intimideer/

Crimes of the South African Police Service

Ten dead after killing spree by South African police detective

Rory Carroll in Johannesburg

The Guardian, Wednesday 5 April 2006 Article history A South African detective went on the rampage this week, killing eight people including four colleagues and an infant before being shot dead by police yesterday.

Superintendent Chippa Mateane, 42, shot three women and a two-year-old boy on Monday night, then opened fire at Kagiso police station in Krugersdorp, a town west of Johannesburg.

The killings, shocking even by the standards of South Africa's violent crime epidemic, prompted calls for compulsory psychological counselling for police officers. It started around 6.30pm in nearby Tarlton, where the child and the three women, aged 24, 30 and 48, were shot. Radio reports said one of the women, Matshidiso Selena Mosia, was the killer's girlfriend. A fourth woman, 21, was wounded.

Thirty minutes later Mateane arrived at Kagiso police station and opened fire in an office and corridor, killing four colleagues. A fifth was wounded in the chest. Three of the dead were found lying under a table surrounded by blood-splattered dockets. Mateane fled in a police vehicle, then tracked down and seriously wounding his brother in Sebokeng township.

A huge manhunt ended at 4am yesterday. "He was finally shot dead himself during a confrontation with police in the early hours of Tuesday morning," a police spokeswoman said. During the chase a police car ran over and killed a pedestrian, bringing the total death toll to 10.

The national police chief, Jackie Selebi, said: "It is unknown what sparked such an unacceptable level of rage ... and it pains me to even try and understand."

Local media reported that Mateane had been troubled by his relationship with his girlfriend but had betrayed no sign of losing control. "We are all traumatised. He was a normal guy," a police reservist told the South African Press Association.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/apr/05/southafrica.rorycarroll?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487

Crimes of the South African Police Service

You are an Evil Person, Mr. McBride.

2011-09-08

"You are an evil person, Mr McBride," a Pretoria magistrate told Robert McBride on Thursday when he sentenced him to an effective five years in prison.

"Even you are not above the law," regional Magistrate Peet Johnson told the former head of Ekurhuleni metro police.

McBride, 48, stood erect in the dock and looked the magistrate in the eyes during his sentencing.

At times the tension showed when McBride swallowed hard.

Johnson sentenced him to two years in prison on a charge of drunken driving and to five years on a charge of obstructing justice, two of which were suspended.

McBride's driver's licence was also suspended for 18 months.

His bail of R1 000 was extended after the court granted him leave to appeal against his conviction and sentence.
End-of-year party
The sentence arose from an accident caused by McBride on December 21 2006 in his government vehicle, a Chevrolet Lumina, on the R511 road near Hartebeespoort Dam. He was on his way back from an end-of-year party.

Johnson told McBride, "You drove extremely dangerously and recklessly, with total contempt for other road users.

"The community has the right to expect a high degree of responsibility and integrity from the head of Ekurhuleni Metro Police.

"You are, after all, paid with taxpayer' money."
It is shocking that McBride's subordinates threatened people on the scene of the accident with firearms, Johnson said. "Residents of the country deserve better."

He added that McBride has an exaggerated good view of himself, whereas he is a domineering, aggressive and intolerable leader rather than a credible and respected mediator.
Johnson said the accused portrayed himself to a parole officer as someone who cannot tolerate corruption.

Yet he abused his position in attempts to hide the fact that he had been driving under the influence of alcohol.

Johnson was also upset because according to the parole officer’s report McBride expressed the opinion that community service that includes manual labour is humiliating.

According to the report the accused also refused to attend any rehabilitation programmes.
"If you had been honest from the outset, Mr McBride, then you would not be in this mess now. The case would have been long forgotten," the magistrate said in closing.

Advocate Guido Penzhorn SC, for the defence, applied for leave to appeal after the sentencing. He listed 76 reasons why the defence believed that another court would disagree with Johnson.

Johnson said that while he was not convinced that another court would reach a different finding from his, some points were open to argument.
http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/You-are-an-evil-person-McBride-told-20110908

Posted by Jazzie at 7:40 AM

http://whatishappeninginsouthafrica.blogspot.com/search/label/Crooked%20Police

Crimes of the South African Police Service

Police Commissioner Cele Bombed?

Monday, October 17, 2011

The Sunday Independent newspaper stood by its report that national police chief General Bheki Cele had been fired, editor Makhudu Sefara said on Monday.

“I don't know what people know about news stories, but from where we sit, the information has been sourced properly... it has been corroborated by more than two sources,” he said.

The newspaper reported on Sunday that Cele had been axed and asked to take up a diplomatic post in Canada, and that he was expected to vacate his office by November 30.

The dismissal was reportedly the result of a report, by Public Protector Thuli Madonsela, which implicated him in controversial lease deals for buildings in Durban and Pretoria.

Madonsela found Cele had been involved in improper conduct and maladministration.

Police rejected the report on Monday, and said it was the product of incompetence and corruption.

“The SA Police Service (SAPS) would like to assure the South African public that General Cele is very much entrenched in his position as national commissioner,” Cele's spokeswoman Major-General Nonkululeko Mbatha said.

“No amount of dirty tricks... will ever destabilise the organisation.”

She said a disinformation campaign against Cele was being run by the “criminal underworld” with assistance from “their friends in the media”.

The newspaper report did not quote any documents or sources to validate its claims, she said.

A letter was being sent to the newspaper requesting an internal investigation

“The SAPS will be asking the newspaper proprietors to release the findings of their investigation within 21 days,” Mbatha said.

Sefara said the newspaper would consider the request.

“A basis for the investigation has not been established. If they ( the police) wish to request an investigation, we will listen and make a decision if we think there is sufficient basis for it,” the editor said.

http://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/newspaper-stands-by-cele-story-1.1158902

Posted by Jazzie at 8:10 PM

Crimes of the South African Police Service

Police shoot dead three-year-old in South Africa

Killing of Atlegang Aphane for allegedly holding pipe mistaken for gun raises fears of 'shoot to kill' policy

Police in South Africa have allegedly shot dead a three-year-old boy because they mistook a metal pipe he was holding for a gun.

Atlegang Aphane's family, who claimed the officer responsible showed no remorse, questioned whether their son had been the victim of a "shoot to kill" policy encouraged by the government.

The incident comes after a string of deaths of innocent people at the hands of police, raising fears of the reckless use of lethal force reminiscent of the apartheid era.

Politicians warned that the fatal blunders would make foreign visitors fear for their safety during next year's football World Cup in South Africa.

The spate of killings has been linked to zero tolerance rhetoric from Jacob Zuma, the South African president, and Bheki Cele, the national police commissioner, instructing the police to open fire on armed criminals without hesitation.

Atlegang, three, was sitting in the back seat of a car parked outside a family home near Midrand, Johannesburg, with his uncle on Saturday. A police constable allegedly drove up and fired through the window, killing the boy instantly.

The officer apparently mistook a pipe for a gun being pointed at him, but no pipe or weapon was found at the scene.

Bongani Mchunu, the boy's uncle, told South Africa's Star newspaper: "We were waiting for the driver when suddenly I heard the sound of tyres screeching as an unmarked VW Golf stopped next to us.

"Then a gunshot followed. The bullet shattered the window on my side and hit Atlegang in the chest. One officer in private clothing jumped out of the car and ordered me to the ground while the other removed Atlegang's body and placed it on the ground next to the car. They screamed at me, saying I was a suspect, but they would not say what I did."

Mchunu said the officers failed to fire a warning shot or ask questions. "They fired even before they got out of the car. And then they did not even seem to care that Atlegang was wounded as they cuffed me. Even if I was a criminal, were they supposed to just shoot at the car when I posed no danger to them? They did not show any remorse afterwards."

The boy's mother, Mapule Aphane, 29, claims she was not allowed to get close to her son's body and had to wait almost six hours for a mortuary van to arrive. "I stood there watching the man who had just shot my son sucking a lollipop as if nothing had happened," she told the Star.

"My child was too young to die by the gun. Why did they just shoot? They then arrested his father, when all he wanted was to see his son's body. Is this what was meant by the shoot-to-kill statements?"

A police officer, reportedly from Johannesburg's Alexandra police station, appeared at a magistrate's court yesterday and was denied bail.

Moses Dlamini, a spokesman for the Independent Complaints Directorate, said police had been tracing a suspect on Saturday and had information that he was at a particular address.

"They arrived at the address and found a car outside the house," he said. "It is alleged one member saw a pipe which looked like a firearm, and he then fired in the direction of the pipe."

"A three-year-old boy was shot in the chest and died instantly. No pipe or firearm was recovered from the car."

Police tactics are under scrutiny after the killing last month of 30-year-old hairdresser Olga Kekana, whose car was peppered with 13 bullets because it was wrongly believed to have been hijacked.

Last week officers allegedly shot dead 21-year-old Kgothatso Ndobe as he bent down to polish his shoes outside his home in Pretoria. In Thembisa township, Johannesburg, police allegedly killed a man and wounded his mother after going to their home to settle a domestic dispute.

There are now fears the issue could cloud South Africa's reputation overseas. Dianne Kohler Barnard, the shadow police minister and an MP for the opposition Democratic Alliance, said: "With all this shoot-to-kill encouragement, what is going to happen with the World Cup?

"Of course these incidents will damage perceptions abroad. How do you say to an international tourist, 'They were shot for this or that reason, you won't be'. The world knows South Africa is a dangerous place with 51 people murdered every day. It's inconceivable in any other country that a hairdresser out for a drive or a child could be shot."

She contrasted the official response with that of the British authorities after the killing of Jean Charles de Menezes. "You had people falling on their swords and feeling honour bound to do so. Here it's a case of, 'Oh well, let's fly up to see the family.'"

South Africa's Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation said: "These incidents are not random events but reflect an overall breakdown of control over the use of lethal force within the SAPS [South Africa Police Service].

"It is reasonable to believe that this breakdown of control is due to a climate of confusion which has been created by statements which have been made over the last year, and particularly in the last couple of months, by senior politicians and police leaders."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/10/south-africa-police-kill-boy

Crimes of the South African Police Service

Part of the murder-gang made up of Sasolburg police officers

Judge C J Musi who jailed Sasolburg Club 40 manager Ignatius Michael Grobler's killer expressed concern that part of the murder-gang made up of Sasolburg police officers, are still working. Fri Jun 3 2011

http://censorbugbear-reports.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2012-04-19T09:02:00%2B02:00

Crimes of the South African Police Service

Unconstitutional arrest of civilians by SA soldiers

Unconstitutional arrest of civilians by SA soldiers: Lamprecht couple arrested, Kruger Park 23:38 Apr 05, 2012 Kruger soldiers hold visitors at gunpoint 2012-04-05 Journalist Erika Gibson, Beeld - reports from Mbombela: Two Kruger National Park visitors were apprehended...

http://www.boerentrepreneur.com/farmitracker/reports/view/2497

Crimes of the South African Police Service

The Citizen newspaper 17 April 2012

Crimes of the South African Police Service

The Citizen newspaper 17 April 2012

Crimes of the South African Police Service

Cop smuggled drugs to prisoners

2011-12-02 13:57

Cape Town - A policeman was arrested for allegedly smuggling drugs to awaiting trial prisoners at the Vredendal Regional Court cells, Western Cape police said on Friday.

Captain Frederick Van Wyk said the 35-year-old officer was arrested after police had a man pose as a buyer for the inmates on Thursday.

"The suspect was arrested shortly after the money was exchanged."

Van Wyk said the officer would appear at the same court on Friday.

- SAPA

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Cop-smuggled-drugs-to-prisoners-20111202

Crimes of the South African Police Service

Man claims R30m for wrongful arrest

2011-12-06 10:13

Durban - A Port Shepstone man who was arrested unlawfully and detained for 369 days on a fraud charge has described his experiences as a year in hell.

"Police brutality, sodomy and gangsterism - I have seen it all," said Danny Pillay, 47.

Pillay is suing the South African police minister and an officer from Port Shepstone organised crime unit for R30m.

Summons were issued in the high court in Pietermaritzburg last Monday.

The parties have 20 days from November 28 to respond.

Pillay, convicted of fraud previously, said he was arrested by an officer of the organised crime unit on a charge of fraud at his home in Oslo Beach on June 17, 2010.

Unlawful

The arrest was supposedly on the basis of a warrant of arrest, but when Pillay requested a copy of the warrant from the second defendant, also police officer, he was told to apply to court if he wanted it.

Certain that justice would one day prevail, Pillay fought from a prison cell for his voice to be heard.

On June 17, 2011, the high court in Pietermaritzburg declared his arrest and detention unlawful and he was released on 20 June.

All criminal charges against Pillay were withdrawn in Port Shepstone Regional Court on November 11.

Discrepancies in documents produced in court showed that Pillay’s arrest and subsequent imprisonment were not done by procedure.

It was unclear as to when the alleged crime took place, as the dates on the warrants of arrest vary by a month.

When Pillay appeared in Port Shepstone Magistrate’s Court on June 21 for a bail application hearing the case was postponed to June 30.

The magistrate refused to consider the lawfulness of Pillay’s arrest and stated that he was only interested in considering the bail issue. The magistrate postponed the matter to July 9 and Pillay was denied bail.

The case was postponed to July 25, Pillay’s first court appearance after he was denied bail, and then finally to November 11 when the charges were withdrawn.

Mental, physical health

Pillay claims that while at Margate and Umzinto cells his mental and physical health deteriorated, he suffered a loss of freedom, loss of dignity, loss of amenities of life, injury to his reputation and loss of earnings among others.

Apart from the unlawfulness of his arrest, Pillay said, he witnessed the worst within police cells during what he calls his year in hell.

“When police bring you in, they cuff you and boot your head,” he said.

He said he saw many fatal fights and that several inmates die from lack of medical care.

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Man-claims-R30m-for-wrongful-arrest-20111206

Crimes of the South African Police Service

Couple win damages for wrongful arrest

2012-03-22 08:39

   

Johannesburg - A couple from Swaziland will receive R80 000 each in damages after police wrongfully arrested them for being in possession of a stolen car, The Star reported on Thursday.

Goodness Masango and her husband Vusie Dlamini each claimed R350 000 in damages before the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria.

Judge Legodi Phatudi ordered that R80 000 each was a reasonable amount. The two had claimed damages for unlawful arrest and detention, defamation and humiliation.

They were arrested at the Matsamo border crossing in Mpumalanga on June 30 2007.

Their car was confiscated, and police refused to allow Masango an opportunity to provide proof the car belonged to her.

They spent two days in prison and were released on July 2, when they appeared in the Tonga Magistrate's Court.

Police insisted the car had been "circulated as being stolen", despite there being no report of its theft.

- SAPA

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Couple-win-damages-for-wrongful-arrest-20120322

Crimes of the South African Police Service

Cop boss: Powers take cases from police

2012-04-20 08:28

Cape Town - External "powers" often take cases away from the police, MPs heard on Thursday.

"We have been told in many instances of late that we don't have rights to investigate certain case dockets," acting national police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi said during a briefing on the SA Police Service's strategic plans for 2012/13.

"We must release some case dockets to [the] inspector general of intelligence because we don't have jurisdiction.

"We do that. We take those case dockets, we send them to court again, we sit and wait. That is all a police officer can do."

Mdluli saga

Mkhwanazi said "other powers beyond us" decided whether a case should be prosecuted or not.

"There are powers beyond us that are going to decide whether there is a conviction or not. It's all good that we say we want to achieve this target of conviction, [but] we are not prosecutors. We are not judges."

His remarks come after the dropping of criminal charges against crime intelligence chief Richard Mdluli.

He was tipped to become the country's next police commissioner after fraud and murder charges against him were dropped two months apart.

The dropping of the charges comes amid reports of top-level political pressure on the NPA, and the Inspector General of Intelligence, Faith Radebe, to let him off the hook.

Mdluli was reinstated as head of the Crime Intelligence Division (CID) after the NPA dropped fraud charges against him relating to the alleged abuse of the police's service account.

Along with Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa and CID finance chief Solly Lazarus, he was accused of sanctioning the abuse of millions of rands from the account for private ends.

Mdluli has been dogged by murder charges relating to the killing of a love rival in 1999.

But in February, the NPA withdrew charges against him and three others stemming from the death of Oupa Ramogibe, and established an inquest to determine whether the state had enough evidence for a trial.

- SAPA

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Politics/Cop-boss-Powers-take-cases-from-police-20120419

Crimes of the South African Police Service

Pretoria - The disarming of police officers declared incompetent to handle firearms has been halted, police management said on Thursday.

2012-04-26 22:12

Acting national police commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi said officers who had already been disarmed would get their weapons back.

"The status quo will prevail until a proper plan and guideline implementation is communicated to all provinces and divisions."

The SA Police Service decided to disarm 27 000 members found to be unfit to handle firearms. The move was opposed by the SA Police Union.

It successfully interdicted SAPS from disarming officers, but some had already had their guns taken away.

Mkhwanazi said, citing the department's figures, that a total of 129 713 members had undergone proficiency training. Out of that figure 27 400 officers were not competent.

"However out of this 27 400, 20 864 did not fail, but have just not completed their training. They would have either completed legal principles only, or use of firearms only."

A member needed to complete both the legal theory and training in the use of firearms to be declared fully competent. He said the 6 536 officers who had failed the test would undergo remedial training and be re-assessed.

"The unit standard requires members to be competent in three firearms, handgun, shotgun, and assault rifle. Within those members that were declared not yet competent some of them are competent in one, but not all firearms," Mkhwanazi said.

- SAPA

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Cops-to-stick-to-their-guns-20120426-3

Crimes of the South African Police Service

Cops deny covering up fatal crash

2012-04-11 10:06

 

Matilda du Preez (Beeld)

Pretoria - Police on Wednesday denied covering up an accident in which a girl died after being hit by a car allegedly driven by a community policing member (CPF) in Hercules.

Captain Pinky Tsinyane said a case of culpable homicide had been opened and that the matter was being investigated.

Tsinyane said that once this investigation had been finalised, the national prosecuting authority would decide whether to prosecute.

She could not confirm whether the driver was indeed a CPF member………

Read more….

- SAPA and Beeld

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Cops-deny-covering-up-fatal-crash-20120411

Crimes of the South African Police Service

Cop held for selling key evidence

2012-04-17 22:26

Johannesburg - A policeman was arrested in Nelspruit for selling a firearm that was crucial evidence in an armed robbery case, Mpumalanga police said on Tuesday.

Colonel Leonard Hlathi said the 50-year-old captain, stationed at Acornhoek, was arrested on Monday.

The firearm he sold was being kept as evidence in the police's store room.

"Police had confiscated the firearm, which was used in an armed robbery in Bushbuckridge last year."

Hlathi said police were tipped off about the deal and able to arrest the policeman.

"He was still in possession of the firearm, ammunition and money."

The policeman was charged with corruption and defeating the ends of justice. He was expected to appear in the Acornhoek Magistrate's Court soon.

- SAPA

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Cop-held-for-selling-key-evidence-20120417

Crimes of the South African Police Service

Presidency denies Zuma, Mdluli link

2012-03-30 16:31

Johannesburg - President Jacob Zuma did not interfere in a probe into fraud and corruption claims against re-instated crime intelligence boss Richard Mdluli, his office said on Friday.

"The president has nothing to do with the Mdluli investigation, it is an internal matter within the SA Police Service," the presidency said in a statement.

Earlier in the day, the Mail & Guardian reported that information in a secret document showed Zuma played a role in getting Mdluli's job back after he was suspended last year.

Allegations included that Zuma personally called Inspector General of Intelligence Faith Radebe to question her decision to refer criminal charges to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to investigate Mdluli.

It also alleged that Zuma attended a party which Mdluli allegedly hosted to celebrate the withdrawal of charges against him in December last year.

Complete fabrication

"These reports are a complete fabrication. The president has never called IG Radebe at any point, and anyone who says he did, must produce evidence," the presidency said.

"The president knows nothing about a Mdluli celebratory party and never attended such a party."

Mdluli was suspended in May last year after murder charges were laid against him.

Following this, fresh charges relating to fraud and corruption in the abuse of crime intelligence funds were levelled at him. However these were provisionally withdrawn in December.

In February this year, the NPA announced that the best way to deal with the murder charges against Mdluli was through a formal inquest, not a trial.

Earlier this week, Mdluli's suspension was lifted.

Police declined to give reasons for this, saying it was an internal matter that would not be discussed in the public domain.

- SAPA

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Politics/Presidency-denies-Zuma-Mdluli-link-20120330

Crimes of the South African Police Service

NPA denies meddling in Mdluli case

2012-04-17 22:26

    

Cape Town - There were no political orders to drop criminal charges against crime intelligence chief Richard Mdluli, acting NPA head Nomgcobo Jiba said on Tuesday.

"There is no instruction that has been given to any deputy Director of Public Prosecutions or any other person to withdraw the charges against General Mdluli.

"It will be a sad day in the country if we take our decisions because of political pressure," she told Parliament's portfolio committee on justice after briefing MPs on the National Prosecuting Authority's strategic plan for the year.

Jiba was responding to a question by Democratic Alliance MP Dene Smuts, who also demanded to know whether there was any link between the Mdluli saga and an attempt to suspend senior prosecutor Glynnis Breytenbach.

Jiba denied any connection. She said Breytenbach was given notice in February of an intention to suspend her, relating to her handling of the investigation into charges iron ore mining rivals Kumba Iron Ore and politically connected Imperial Crown Trading brought against each other.

The investigation against Breytenbach was still underway, but she was never suspended.

According to media reports Breytenbach's opposition to the NPA's decision in December last year to withdraw fraud charges against Mdluli had contributed to attempts to suspend her.

Mdluli is tipped to become the country's next police commissioner after fraud and murder charges against him were dropped two months apart, amid reports of top-level political pressure on the NPA and the Inspector General of Intelligence Faith Radebe to let him off the hook.

He was reinstated as head of the Crime Intelligence Division (CID) after the NPA dropped fraud charges against him relating to the alleged abuse of the police's service account.

Along with Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa and CID finance chief Solly Lazarus, he was accused of sanctioning the abuse of millions of rands from the account for private ends.

Facing mounting pressure on the matter, Mthethwa on Monday referred the claims that he abused R200 000 in police intelligence funds to refurbish his house to the Auditor General.

Mdluli has been dogged by murder charges relating to the killing of a love rival in 1999. But in February, the NPA withdrew charges against him and three others stemming from the death of Oupa Ramogibe, and established an inquest to determine whether the state had enough evidence for a trial.

The inquest heard this week that key evidence in the case had been destroyed.

- SAPA

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/NPA-denies-meddling-in-Mdluli-case-20120417-2