Border cops held for bribery
2008-06-30 15:49
Walter Ka Nkosi
Nelspruit - Three Mpumalanga border officials are accused of soliciting about R11 000 in bribes from a Mozambican hawker.
Lebombo border post inspector Pieter Swanepoel (50) and constables Victor Mthombothi (30) and Lindumuzi Mgwenya (24) were not asked to plead to charges of corruption when they appeared in the Nelspruit magistrate's court on Friday.
They were released on warning and the case was postponed to July 22 for further investigation.
They are accused of soliciting a bribe from a 45-year-old Mozambican woman who was found illegally selling cigarettes in the Nelspruit city centre last Thursday.
They were in the city to drop off a police combi for repairs when they saw her.
The woman opened a case against them and said she recognised them from the border post.
She told police she was angry that they took the bribe and still confiscated her cigarettes.
The officers were arrested later that day while driving back to the border post.
Police found several cartons of Mozambican cigarettes in the vehicle but no money.
- African Eye