On Monday, 17 May 2021 Durban Specialised Commercial Crime Court sentenced two police officers to ten years direct imprisonment for corruption.
The two officers, Sergeant Musawenkosi Mabaso (48) and Sergeant Thulani Dlangalala (48) were arrested by Hawks members from Durban Serious Corruption Investigation after they received a gratification of R7 500-00 from the complainant.
In May 2018, Mabaso and Dlangalala were tasked to pick up the suspect who was arrested at King Shaka International Airport. Along the way, the two officers demanded a R7000-00 cash in order to release the suspect for him to go home and come to court the following day. They were paid R4 500-00 and further demanded a balance of R3000-00.
Hawks members were immediately informed and an undercover operation was swiftly conducted. They were intercepted after collecting the balance and a search was conducted. Members found R7 500.00 cash that was taken from the complainant and they were subsequently arrested.
Mabaso and Dlangalala were charged for corruption and defeating the ends of justice. They immediately resigned from the police after they were released on bail.
A prosecution guided investigation yielded positive results when they were convicted on 1 March 2021.
The KwaZulu-Natal Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation Provincial Head, Major General Leseja Senona welcomed the sentence. “This is a very good lesson to those police officers who are abusing the authority and putting the name of the South African Police Service in disrepute. We are determined to clean up our own organisation and put all perpetrators where they belong,” he said.
