Cape Town – A police detective, accused of corruptly demanding R4 000 for the release from custody of two drug suspects, appeared in a Cape Town court on Monday.
Denwin Jantjies, 32, of River Crescent in Eerste River, is charged with corruption, but was not asked to plead to the charge when he appeared in the Specialised Commercial Crime Court in Bellville before magistrate Sabrina Sonnenberg.
According to the charge sheet, at the time of the alleged offence he was based at the Maitland police station.
It is alleged that drug suspect Siyasonga Jacob was arrested in August last year by law enforcement officials, for the alleged possession of drugs.
His companion, Mandlakyise Mathe, had R7 960 on his person, and was also arrested, as was Jacobs’s second companion, Siyabulela Mbengashe.
The case was allocated to Jantjies who consulted the station commander about the fact that neither Mathe nor Mbengashe had been in possession of drugs at the time of their arrest.
Janties was instructed to take statements from both men and to then release them from custody and refund Mathe his money.
The prosecutor, senior State advocate Derek Vogel, alleges that instead of merely carrying out the commander’s instructions, Jantjies demanded R2 000 from each to secure their release.
It is alleged that Jantjies, in fact, took R4 000 for himself, before refunding Mathe the R3 960 balance.
The prosecutor alleges that the R4 000 that Jantjies kept for himself constituted an unlawful gratification, in contravention of his duty to uphold and enforce the law, without any payment in addition to his monthly salary.
The prosecutor told the court that this was Jantjies’s first appearance in the commercial crime court, and that a copy of the investigation docket had already been handed to defence attorney Zaheer Badrudeen.
Jantjies was warned to appear again on February 29, and his bail of R1 500 was extended.
African News Agency
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