Hawks arrest own members for R1m armed robbery

THE Hawks in Gauteng have arrested two of their own members and a Hillbrow police detective for armed robbery‚ in which they allegedly netted a share of R1-million each.

According to Hawks spokesman, Captain Ndivhuwo Mulamu‚ a fourth suspect is on the run.

The arrests took place on Tuesday following allegations in September that four police officials in two cars had stopped a driver in Norwood.

“They said the man was driving recklessly,” Mulamu said.

“The driver then insisted on proceeding to the nearest police station.

“He was hauled to the Norwood police station‚ where a search was conducted and [police found] two boxes full of cash‚ including a receipt indicating the total amount which the victim had exchanged for his employer.”

According to Mulamu‚ the cops took the man to the Johannesburg Specialised Commercial Crimes Court building in Eloff Street‚ where they offloaded the cash and divided it among themselves inside an office.

A small share was handed to the driver. Warrant Officer Tefo Maimane, 49‚ and Warrant Officer Eric Melaphi, 41‚ both attached to the Hawks Serious Commercial Crimes Unit‚ appeared in court briefly on Tuesday‚ alongside Detective Constable Khumbulo Gadivhana, 36, from the Hillbrow SAPS.

The matter was postponed to Wednesday next week for a formal bail application at the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court.

Gauteng Hawks boss Major-General Prince Mokotedi said he was shocked and disappointed that his own members had been arrested‚ but congratulated the arresting officers for their courage.

“Since we implemented zero tolerance to corruption‚ we have arrested 102 police officials in Gauteng from March last year to date,” he said.

“The Serious Corruption Investigation Unit was beefed up with 18 members and we are now reaping the fruits of arresting corrupt individuals.

“I want to warn unscrupulous members that we will not relax until the Hawks‚ particularly in Gauteng‚ get rid of all the bad elements.

“The blue wall is greatly impeding our success in tackling organised crime.”