Johannesburg - For more than two weeks, the corpses of three murder suspects were left to rot in an isolated stretch of veld in Carletonville, south-west of Joburg.
The three were found on Monday afternoon after an informant revealed that the men had allegedly been tortured and executed by Springs police officers who were meant to be investigating the case.
A major crime intelligence operation reeled in a constable on Tuesday, but the other alleged torturer and participant in the crimes was still on the run.
On Tuesday, Gauteng provincial police commissioner Lieutenant-General Lesetja Mothiba detailed and condemned the officers’ actions, vowing that they would face the full might of the law.
He said the two detective constables had gone on an operation on April 17, accompanied by three informers, to arrest four murder suspects.
The first suspect was identified by the informers and taken into custody by the officers, who then proceeded to interrogate him using “unorthodox methods”.
Mothiba did not say outright how the man had been attacked, but it’s understood that he was beaten to the point of unconsciousness.
The police took the dying suspect to a nearby hospital, where he was certified dead.
The detectives allegedly booked out the man’s body to transport in their vehicle as they continued their mission.
The officers and their informants, with the body in the vehicle, tracked down the other three suspects. The men were arrested and taken to a field in Carletonville.
Mothiba said the officers had allegedly opened fire on the three. One had escaped, crawling into the road, where he was found by passers-by who took him to hospital.
“They tried to hide the bodies,” said Mothiba.
The plan was successful for more than two weeks. However, on Monday afternoon, one of the informants finally approached the police about the brutal killings.
“During an investigation, it was discovered that the informers were also part of the tragic events that ensued, and they were arrested,” said Mothiba.
“A manhunt has been launched to apprehend (the second officer). Cases of murder and attempted murder have been opened.”
The SAPS said the surviving suspect in the original murder case was believed to be staying with relatives, but would now be treated as a complainant against the officers.
The case has also been handed over to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate.
Officials were unwilling to provide details about the police officer still at large for the media to assist in the manhunt, as they believed he would be arrested shortly.
“We would like to set the record straight that in Gauteng, we are not going to associate with criminal elements in the police,” said Mothiba, adding that the officers would be dealt with through internal disciplinary action and the criminal courts.
MEC for Community Safety Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane expressed shock at the officers’ alleged actions.
“Such conduct in the police service should never be tolerated… No officers should take the law into their own hands. However, I am comforted that one of the constables and the three informers have been arrested and will face the full might of the law. I also want to take this opportunity to commend the actions of the individual who spilt the beans in this matter.
“It is only through such co-operation between citizens and the police that we will uproot acts of corruption in the public service,” she said.
At the media conference on Tuesday, Mothiba also gave updates on other major cases.
He said no arrest had been made in the case of Charlotte Madibuseng, the pregnant Soweto mother who was gunned down in front of her two children in Bramfischerville. Mothiba said SAPS management in Gauteng was issuing a R100 000 reward for the positive identification of the suspects.
In another case, Constable Thulani Malele was arrested on Sunday for allegedly killing his ex-girlfriend’s current boyfriend. The Honeydew police officer appeared in the Protea Magistrate’s Court on charges of murder.