South Africa: Cop Accused of Stealing His Own Case File Back in Court

Suspended South African Police Service Sergeant Fannie Nkosi appears in the Pretoria High Court on Wednesday morning, after his criminal case was centralised and transferred from the Thohoyandou Magistrate's Court in Limpopo.

Nkosi faces charges of theft, fraud and defeating the ends of justice. It's alleged that in November 2022, after a suspect was arrested in Thohoyandou for possession of dagga, unlicensed firearms and explosives, Nkosi visited the local police station claiming to be a senior officer sent from SAPS head office and removed the case docket.

Months later, he allegedly returned, this time claiming to be a colonel, and took the confiscated dagga from police custody as well. The exhibit bag was later returned, but investigators found it had been tampered with.

This is only one part of a much longer legal saga for Nkosi, a member of Gauteng's Organised Crime Unit who spent eight days testifying at the Madlanga Commission earlier this year. In his testimony, Nkosi described himself as a middleman connecting suspended Deputy National Commissioner Shadrack Sibiya to an alleged crime network known as the "Big Five," led by businessman Vusimuzi "Cat" Matlala.

He admitted to facilitating meetings between Sibiya and Matlala, and told the commission he had personally received R25,000 from Matlala for arranging a motorbike escort at a wedding.

Nkosi was arrested shortly after his testimony concluded.

A search of his Pretoria North home turned up a stun grenade, close to 500 rounds of ammunition, SAPS equipment, and case dockets linked to cash-in-transit heists and hijackings, some of them originals that should have been archived. Investigators also found R50,000 in cash hidden under a mattress, which Nkosi could not explain.

He was denied bail, with the magistrate finding his release would not serve the interests of justice, and was later moved to the hospital wing of Kgosi Mampuru Correctional Centre after citing safety fears and illness.

A follow-up raid in April uncovered a further six undetected dockets stored in a structure on his property.

More charges followed in May, when the Madlanga Commission's Recommendations Investigative Task Team added the Thohoyandou docket theft to his case load.

Read the original article on Scrolla.