Pretoria - The high court in Pretoria has rejected the evidence of a police officer attached to the Brixton police station that a hijacking suspect was forced to point him out as one of the culprits in a truck hijacking.
Tebogo Rashijane claimed R400 000 in damages from the police following his arrest and then spending three weeks in a police cell, after which he was released on bail.
The Director of Public Prosecutions eventually withdrew all charges against him.
A gangster arrested after a truck hijacking, said they were assisted by police driving a marked police car.
The man, only identified as Yassin, went to a house in Brixton to point out more suspects, when Rashijane arrived in a police van.
The suspect pointed him out as one of the officers who assisted the gang. But Rashijane claimed the man was being assaulted by police and thus forced to point out the first person he happened to see.
An SAPS organised crime unit member, Warrant Officer David Mofokeng, testified that in 2010 he interrogated some of the arrested gang members. He was told that they were assisted during the hijacking by SAPS members in a marked car, using a blue light.
One of the suspects took him and about 20 other officers to a house in Brixton, to point out more suspects. They could not enter the well-secured house and waited in their cars for the owner to come home. While waiting, a police van driven by Rashijane arrived.
The suspect pointed him out as being one of the officers who had assisted them in the crime. Mofokeng said he asked the suspect three times whether he was sure, before Rashijane was arrested. But Rashijane explained he was on the scene in Brixton because he received a call about a burglary in progress, but denied he knew the suspect.
Mofokeng said when he informed Rashijane about the allegations against him, he became aggressive.
The case against Rashijane could not go ahead as the hijacked truck driver returned to Zimbabwe and never returned to testify against the gang. Rashijane said the media published the story about his arrest and he was “heartbroken” because he was being portrayed as dishonest.
Acting Judge D Makhoba said Rashijane’s evidence was “riddled with improbabilities”. It was inconceivable that Mofokeng, with more than 20 years' experience, would force a suspect to falsely incriminate an officer. The judge also questioned why the suspect would be forced to point out Rashijane. The case was withdrawn as the victim was not traced; not because the officer had no case to answer, the judge said.
Pretoria News