'No one is above the law'
2007-02-27 14:08
Nelspruit - An Mpumalanga cop has been bust for allegedly taking part in an illegal drag-racing competition.
Constable Mfundo Renius Masuku, 26, appeared in the Ka-Nyamazane magistrate's court outside Nelspruit on Monday on charges of reckless and negligent driving and driving under the influence of alcohol.
Masuku, who has been suspended, is out on R500 bail and will appear in court again on April 23. He was arrested in Ka-Nyamazane on Sunday night while police were conducting a stop-and-search operation aimed at stopping amateur dragsters from "spinning" their cars at a busy intersection in the township.
When the police arrived the drag racers moved to another intersection, but police got wind of their activities and sent a detachment of cops to disperse the drag racers. When they arrived on the scene, police found two cars - a Golf and a Ford Bantam - "spinning" at the intersection.
Constable Masuku, who is based at the Ka-Nyamazane police station, was allegedly driving the Golf and was arrested, but the driver of the Bantam managed to escape after colliding with a police minibus.
Ka-Nyamazane police spokesperson Captain Philip Fakude said a crowd that had gathered to watch the drag racers tried to stop the policeman from being arrested and threw stones and empty beer bottles at the police, breaking the windscreen of their minibus. Two people were arrested and would face charges of public violence.
Fakude said police believed the Bantam belonged to another policeman who is stationed at the Lebombo border post. "We have sent a team to fetch him. He will definitely be charged too. Commissioner Nhlamvu Dlamini (the Ka-Nyamazane station commissioner) said there is no room for corrupt police officials on the force. The public has heeded our call to desist from spinning their cars, but our own police officers were found spinning their cars. There is nobody who is above the law and we will clean up our own house so the public will take us seriously," said Fakude.