The recent arrest of three Police Officers working under the jurisdiction of Maluti Police Station in Matatiele in the Eastern Cape has opened up a can of worms with regards to corruption in this station. If a verdict of fraud and corruption is passed against these police officers, Mount Fletcher Cluster Commander, Brigadier Nompumelelo Majikijela will be vindicated for slamming the police of the station as rotten to the core. The informer newspaper is bringing you another story of an unsolved mystery of a murder docket that got lost twice while in the hands of police officers from the same police station. Today the murderer is still moving freely within the community in town. On the 12th of April 2014, Moeketsi Mohatla 22 from Ramohlokoana Location in Matatiele went out with his two friends expecting to come back home the following day. Mohatla did not come back, but instead the family received reports on the morning of the 13 of April that he had been abducted and taken away in an unknown vehicle. Narrating the story to Mohatla’s family his two friends said, they were standing at the Golden bus stop at 8pm in the hope of getting a lift to town to buy some things as one of them had been paid. Whilst standing there a car stopped next to them. Two men who were holding guns and a can of pepper spray came out of the car and advanced towards them. They told them to get into the car but Moeketsi’s two friends managed to run away. They said they ran away after one of the guys sprayed Mohatla with pepper spray. According to Tselane Mohatla, Moeketsis sister, the family opened a case at the Maluti police station on Monday the 15th of April.
She said the culprit was arrested after he was identified by Moeketsi’s two friends in an identification parade. During his first appearance the community came out in numbers demanding that the accused must not be granted bail. At that time, we were not interested in a bail hearing but we wanted to find out where our brother was. The community also started threatening that they would burn the suspect‘s car and office. That is when police started to question him about Moeketsi. The suspect confessed that he had kidnapped Moeketsi and that he died in his office after he beat him. “They dumped him near Swartberg in a plantation”, said Tselane. The accused also lead the police to the dumping site where police found the body. Strange things began to happened during the bail hearing where the accused was only charged for Kidnapping and the murder was not mentioned.. He was granted bail of R1000. We asked if a murder docket can be added as the suspect had confessed to killing Moeketsi and he had lead the police to where he had dumped the body. When we raised this issue that’s when police started to duck and dive and not respond to our questions, she said. Tselane said that from when the court proceedings start the case would be postponed. In October 2014 we were told by the prosecutor that the docket was lost so the case cannot proceed. But the magistrate instructed the investigator to make sure that he opens the docket afresh. On the 26th of November the prosecutor advised us that if we wanted the case to proceed we had to transfer it from Maluti to the Kokstad Regional Court. He successfully assisted us in that process and the case was heard at the Kokstad regional Court.
She said after three months or so when the magistrate was about to pronounce a guilty verdict the accused could not make it to court and the police produced a doctors certificate in that regard. Since then the accused has never appeared in court until a warrant of arrest was issued by the magistrate. In addition, there was no attempt by the police to place the picture of the accused in their system as a wanted person. In enquiring about the accused’s whereabouts, police said that he is reportedly in Cape Town. Finding this out Tselane went to the Maluti Police Station to offer help in looking for the accused, that’s when she found out that the suspects docket has been lost again. The investigator Mr Gojela showed her an empty docket saying he does not know where the statements and the photos of the accused and the deceased have gone. Up until today the Maluti police have failed to secure a conviction of murder against the man who killed my brother! “The murderer is still enjoying life outside through the corrupt activities of the Maluti police”, said Tselane. He said if you open a case of Murder or rape in Maluti you know that the police are overjoyed because to them it has become a source of income. They are rotten to the core. I am very angry. I would be very glad to hear that the Hawkes were conducting more investigations into this rotten police station.
