A police officer and a senior advocate who is a state prosecutor were arrested on Friday by the Hawks for allegedly extorting R1.6-million from a mining company director.
Hawks national spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Singo said two suspects — a police constable attached to the Wierdabrug police station and a senior advocate at the specialised commercial crimes court in Pretoria — were arrested by members of the Hawks’ Pretoria-based serious corruption investigation team on Friday.
Singo said the complainant, who is a director of a coal mining company in Ermelo, Mpumalanga, reported that he had a civil dispute with a certain company.
Dispute with another mining company
“The dispute was in relation to a R1, 750 000 worth of coal mine, which his company had mined in 2023. And the other company had not collected the coal for a period of eight months. The other company then demanded the refund of R1,750 000, … which the complainant has refused to return.
“During February 2024, the complainant was contacted by the police official, who informed him that there is a criminal docket registered against him for fraud relating to the dispute.
“It was reported that the complainant met the police official and the senior advocate at Wierdabrug police station,” said Singo.
“The complainant was then arrested at Wierdabrug police station. During his arrest it is alleged that the complainant was taken to an office after being detained for several hours. In the presence of the complainant’s attorney, the suspect, a senior advocate, allegedly indicated that the complainant should offer an incentive to the company for the dispute to be resolved.
Paid incentive out of fear
“The complainant, with fear of being detained, as he was informed that this is a serious case, then offered an amount of R1.5-million to the dispute company to withdraw the charges. This was in contrast with his attorney’s view that this was a civil matter,” said Singo.
Singo said it is further alleged that the advocate told the complainant to increase the amount to R1.6-million “so that everyone can be happy”.
“The complainant was arrested pending confirmation of the amount by the dispute company. He was released later after the amount was confirmed by the dispute company. During the period between January and August 2024, the complainant was also involved in a separate civil litigation with another company in the Mpumalanga High Court.
“The litigation involves a claim of R17-million brought against his company. During the period between July and August 2024, it is alleged that the suspect, the constable, contacted the complainant again. He informed him that there is another criminal investigation …against his company, and he is investigating the matter,” said Singo.
Second solicitation
“The complainant became suspicious of the conduct of the police official and the senior advocate. The matter was then reported to the Hawks’ Serious Corruption Investigation team based in Headquarters Pretoria (sic) for further investigation.
“An operation to arrest the suspects was then conducted, which did not go as planned. On the day of the arrest, the Hawks discovered that the complainant was arrested by the suspects at Wierdabrug police station on 03 September 2024.
“The complainant then appeared before the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on 04 September 2024 with the senior advocate (suspect) as the prosecutor.
“His matter was postponed for seven days for formal bail application. Further investigation was conducted and revealed that the senior advocate manipulated the standard procedures of case allocations and assigned the case docket to himself,” added Singo.
No evidence against complainant
“It was further revealed that there was no prima facie evidence against the complainant in the docket. He was arrested and brought before court illegally. All the charges against the complainant were withdrawn,” said Singo.
Singo said the two suspects — the constable and the advocate who is a state prosecutor —are expected to appear before the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court next week Monday.
