Cape Town - The case against the four police officers accused of corruption and theft has been postponed to Monday.
Thandubuzwe Mretsu, Patience Nolundi Quba, Ntsikelelo Matyila and Zweledinga Sontshalabe stationed at Harare police station made a brief appearance at the Khayelitsha Magistrate's Court on Wednesday, after they were arrested on Tuesday.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said Mretsu, Matyila and Sontshalabe were charged with corruption and theft while Qubu was also charged with pointing a firearm. He said their case has been postponed, and that there was an outcome of an identity parade.
Police spokesperson Andrè Traut said the constables aged between 27 and 37 have been the subject of an investigation by the Anti-Corruption Unit since last year when information surfaced that money was demanded from people they accused of breaking the law in exchange for their freedom.
Traut said following a thorough investigation relating to two cases reported last year and three cases this year, a warrant of arrest was issued for the four, which was executed on Tuesday, at the Harare police station where they were based.
SA Communist Party (SACP) provincial secretary Benson Ngqentsu said the investigation and ultimate arrest on the matter confirmed the correctness of the SACP's analysis of the existing nexus between criminal elements which involved some members from the criminal justice cluster and the police in particular.
Ngqentsu said it was against the background that the SACP in the provinces was demanding for independent vetting of all men and women in blue as a commitment to root out the rot within the ranks of the police.
"We call on the NPA to deny these elements bail till the investigation is completed and they are trialled," said Ngqentsu.