Pretoria - A member of the South African Police Service’s (SAPS) crime intelligence unit appeared in the Specialised Commercial Crime Court in Pretoria, facing charges including theft and defrauding the police service of more than R500 000.
The bail application of Morris Lesiba Tshabalala, alias Captain KGB, was postponed to Friday.
According to the charge sheet, Tshabalala, in one instance, defrauded the SAPS by falsifying that R470 000 was “needed to pay for blinds and curtains for a safe house” and he pocketed more than R200 000 from it.
He also faces a charge of corruption relating to R50 000 he received.
The National Prosecuting Authority’s Phindi Louw said the State needed 24 hours to prepare to oppose Tshabalala’s bail application.
Regarding Tshabalala’s employment status, Louw said: “I believe it would be much better if the police could be the proper people to talk to in terms of how the investigations are proceeding. As the NPA, remember we only prosecute, we don’t investigate and therefore we don’t want to talk on their behalf about matters that are under investigation.”
Tshabalala was arrested by police watchdog Independent Police Investigative Directorate [IPID] officers on Tuesday outside the correctional services department headquarters in Pretoria central. He was there to meet his parole officer.
The policeman was previously arrested in 1994, and convicted in 1996 for robbery with aggravating circumstances. He was sentenced to ten years behind bars.
After serving just over two years, at the Groenpunt Maximum Correctional Service Centre, Tshabalala was released. He was then re-employed by SAPS after he was released on parole.