Tshwane Metro Police fires three officers accused of graft

AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit has re-affirmed its commitment to working closely with the Tshwane Metro Police Department (TMPD) to hold corrupt officers accountable and remove them from duty. This follows the department’s recent dismissal of three officers, who are also on trial for corruption and extortion. Grandi Theunissen, Tshwane MMC for Community Safety, and Uvaldi Theologo, the complainant, has formally briefed the Private Prosecution Unit to act as a watching brief. Theunissen is also a witness in the case.

Emmanuel Thovhakale, Michael Soomo and Lerato Molope, now former TMPD officers, appeared in the Pretoria Regional Court yesterday (23 April) on charges of corruption and extortion. 

Theunissen says this was the first time officers were fired for extortion-related charges since 2018. “It is so important to make sure that people are held accountable especially when they are terrorising the residents of the city. They will also be deregistered as traffic officers. They will not be able to find another job elsewhere. And in the meantime, we are pursuing the criminal case against them,” he said.

Adv. Gerrie Nel, Head of the Private Prosecution Unit, says having political will in police departments is crucial to addressing corruption. “We have a complainant who has said that enough is enough and then we have political support from Mr Theunissen who also said enough is enough. And it goes further, we have built up a very good relationship with the new Tshwane Metro Police chief, Yolanda Faro. She is vociferous in her attempts to ensure we rid this city of hooligans with badges. We are committed to ensure that she succeeds so that this city can become safe again for people to drive in the streets, because these cowards focus on soft targets like women,” he said.

Theologo, the complainant in the case, alleges that on 10 July 2022, she was pulled over by the three accused while driving along Solomon Mahlangu Drive. She alleges that the officers accused her of driving her vehicle without an officially stamped permit, and demanded R3 000 cash to avoid her car being impounded. Feeling intimidated, Theologo says the officers followed her to an ATM but she was unable to withdraw the cash. She says the accused then followed her home, and alleges that outside her house she was given a cell phone number to which she transferred R3 000 using an eWallet facility.

While the officers were dealing with Theologo on the side of the road, Theunissen, who happened to be driving past, stopped to enquire if everything was in order. He introduced himself as the Community Safety MMC. As this took place before the officers allegedly asked for the bribe, Theunissen was assured that the metro police officials were performing their duties as expected. It was after this incident that Theologo contacted the MMC to inform him of what had happened. Theunissen then encouraged and supported Theologo when she opened a criminal case against the trio. 

The matter was postponed to 10 July 2024.