Seven cops belonging to the SAPS Public Order Police (POPS) unit are set to appear in court, after they were busted for allegedly extorting Chinese shop owners in Milnerton.
The group were nabbed by the Anti-Corruption Unit over the weekend after they allegedly extorted two winkels in China Town out of R28 000, according to a source.
The source reveals: “These guys are all from POPS but they went to Chinatown in Milnerton where they extorted Chinese shop owners.
“Some of these guys are in the country illegally, so they threaten them as police officers with arrests and then get the guys to give them money.
“At the first shop, they got R18000 and at the second they got R10 000.
“They were so brazen, they went in full police uniform and in the SAPS vehicles. They were arrested at their base in Faure.”
Police spokesperson, Lieutenant-Colonel Malcolm Pojie, confirms the arrests and says: “Seven members attached to Public Order Police were arrested on Sunday, 6 October, in connection with the allegations meted against them that they extorted two foreign owned shops in Milnerton.
“It is alleged that the members, accompanied by a suspect in civilian clothes, took an undisclosed amount of cash from the two shops, allegedly as protection money.
“The seven suspects aged, between 24 and 43, are expected to make their court appearance in the Cape Town Magistrates’ court on Wednesday on the mentioned charges.”
Provincial Police Commissioner, Lieutenant-General Thembisile Patekile condemned the involvement of cops in crime and says there is no place in Saps for them.
Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (POPCRU) spokesperson, Richard Mamabolo, adds: “It is disappointing to note that SAPS members have been arrested for extortion, especially because SAPS has reiterated how rife extortion by criminals in the Western Cape and the Eastern Cape is.
“We have just finished our 10th provincial conference in the Western Cape where the image of SAPS was discussed and incidents like this continue to erode the public’s trust in SAPS.
“As Popcru, we have always condemned officers getting involved in crime, but the fact that these arrests are being made it is proof that there are good officers who are working to root out the bad elements.”
This comes just a week after four Cape Town cops accused of pulling off a R20 million jewellery heist in Llandudno were sent to the mang.
Jacobus Adriaan Groenewald, Bradley Dimitri Minnaar, Mthuthuzeli Mafanya and Bathandwa Soldati appeared at the Wynberg Magistrates Court on aggravated robbery charges after they were busted by the Anti-Corruption Unit.
They allegedly told the homeowner that they had a warrant of arrest for a wanted Nigerian man.
The case was postponed for a bail hearing and the accused were remanded in custody.
monique.duval@inl.co.za