Police officials found
guilty of assault
The court heard that the officials suspected the
victim of being in possession of a cellphone in custody after he was detained
for alleged armed robbery case.
Thobile
Mlangeni | 16 October 2014 06:00
MBOMBELA – Six police officials from Mbombela and Thaba Chweu local
municipalities have been found guilty and sentenced on charges of assault with
the intention of causing grievious bodily harm.
The officials, W/O Thomas Motau (38), Egypt Manzini (48), Harold Mashego
(52), Vusimuzi Maphanga (44) , Const Vuma Ngwambe (30) and Given Mahlako (30)
were all found guilty for severely assaulting Mr Oupa Eliot Malebe (24) on
April 29, five years ago.
The court heard that the officials suspected Malebe of being in
possession of a cellphone in custody after he was detained for alleged armed
robbery case.
He was then removed from the police holding cells and taken to one of
the offices where he was assaulted and then hospitalised under police guard.
He opened a case against the police and the Independent Police
Investigative Directorate ( IPID) investigated the matter.
During the officials pre-sentencing report the Lydenburg Magistrate
Court heard that Mahlako was attached to the directorate for priority crime
investigation (Hawks) in Mbombela while Manzini was stationed at Lydenburg
police station. They were each sentenced to three years in prison.
Motau was the branch commander of Marteenshoop near Lydenburg and
Ngwambe of Lydenburg SAPS.
They were each sentenced to two years’ imprisonment, while Mashego and
Maphanga who resigned from the police sector in 2013 and beginning of 2014
respectively, were each sentenced to pay a fine of R20 000.
The provincial commissioner Gen Thulani Ntobela appeals to SAPS members
to abide by the law when arresting and detaining suspects.
“We are the custodians of the law and we are obligated to protect and
serve the inhabitants of this country. Those of us who choose to go astray will
be prosecuted hence the sentencing of these six members,” he said.
Members of the National Prosecuting Authority who had worked closely
with a majority of the officials desribed this as a huge blow to the police
sector, especially when it came to crime investigations, as some of the
officials were determined and hard-working members, however the law had to take
its course
