One of the four cops linked to a R20 million jewellery heist in Llandudno claims he was sexually harassed during detention.
Mthuthuzeli Mafanya took the stand on Monday in Wynberg Magistrate’s Court as the bail application continued.
The constable and his co-accused Jacobus Adriaan Groenewald, Bradley Dimitri Minnaar and Bathandwa Soldati were busted in September after they raided a house in the larney neighbourhood.
The officers, from the Operation Restore Unit and stationed across Cape Town, are accused of staging a robbery.
Mafanya claimed that while he was being processed, he was touched inappropriately by a female officer.
“While a captain was taking down my alibi, a female officer touched my breast. How can a female officer touch me like that? I didn't open a case of sexual harassment but I informed my lawyer about what happened.”
He further detailed the ‘poor’ treatment he received after handing himself over to the police.
“They didn't follow the procedure. They used this arrest as punishment.”
He said he was handcuffed and the metal caused him pain, claiming: “That was an assault case.”
Mafanya said he was taken to Wynberg police station for interrogation where he was placed “in a dark cell, alone, with just a mattress, I was not given food. They wanted me to confess to something I didn't do, I told them I will speak in court.”
Mafanya claims he and his co-accused received a tip-off about a perly and drug syndicate at the Llandudno house, but the informants later changed their story claiming that two Nigerian criminals were at the house - one was sought by Interpol for cyber crimes and the other was renting a warehouse in Killarney Gardens where he kept drugs.
Mafanya asked the court to release him on bail as he a child and girlfriend to support.