Police Minister Bheki Cele has welcomed the arrest of three suspects charged with attempted murder, extortion, kidnapping and intimidation.
Nafiz Madock, Ricardo Morgan and Jacques Cronje on Monday appeared before the Cape Town Magistrates Court.
“As investigations into the activities of the criminal underworld continue, the possibility of the trio being linked to other serious and violent crimes is eminent,” the Police Ministry said in a statement.
Addressing the media after attending the suspects’ first court appearance, Cele was confident that police are tightening the noose on organised crime.
“These arrests are only the beginning of police efforts to take down organised crime in the province. Clamping down on such criminal syndicates remains an ongoing exercise and such arrests show that police are up to the task.
“It is pleasing to see the progress made by the task team that has been roped in from national to crack this case and other cases linked to organised crime. With the extra resources that have been pumped into fighting crime in this province, I am sure that one day we will normalise this province, one step at a time.”
Cele welcomed the arrest of a police officer accused of leaking information to criminals operating in the province.
This comes after a 39-year-old member attached to the Tactical Response Team (TRT) of the Anti-Gang Unit (AGU) was arrested over the weekend on suspicion of proliferation of information to criminals.
It is alleged that the officer was leaking information related to operations, in return for gratification.
The Sergeant was arrested through an intelligence driven operation conducted by the National Task Team. He will be charged with corruption, together with three accomplices.
“Being a police officer is an honourable job but if you choose to side with criminals, then you are no longer one of us. It was his choice for… to work with the underworld against his own colleagues and if found guilty, he must live with the consequences of his alleged criminal acts,” Cele said.
While in the Western Cape, the Minister, alongside acting Western Cape Provincial Commissioner, Major General Thembisile Patekile, visited Sergeant Clint Skippers.
The officer was shot during a foiled cash-in-transit heist in Khayamandi, Stellenbosch.
The Minister wished him a speedy recovery, thanking him and his team for their bravery when confronting the criminals head-on and thwarting the robbery. – SAnews.gov.za
