Suspended Hawk’s trial resumes
According to the state's testimony, he was travelling in a police vehicle and was not entitled to some of the claims. He was arrested in May 2013 and was released on bail of R1 000.
MBOMBELA – The trial of the former provincial Hawks head resumed in the Nelspruit Regional Court this week.
Major General Simon Mapyane has pleaded not guilty to five counts of fraud for lodging over R10 000 in fraudulent travel claims. He submitted the claims while working as the head of the police’s elite.
According to the state’s testimony, he was travelling in a police vehicle and was not entitled to some of the claims. He was arrested in May 2013 and was released on bail of R1 000.
Former national head of the Hawks, Lt Gen Anwar Dramat, suspended Mapyane in November 2014 pending an investigation into the case.
The first witness to be called to the stand on Tuesday was former provincial police commissioner, Lt Gen Thulani Ntobela, who claimed that he had received a letter of complaint from an informant who wanted to remain anonymous. The informant lodged complaints about Mapyane’s use of state resources.
Adv Hetraam Goosen disputed the claim, saying the witness might have written and sent the letter to himself in an attempt to tarnish Mapyane’s image. Goosen wanted to prove that there was a conspiracy motivated by a personal vendetta against his client.
Furthermore, he claimed the witness and other members of his team wanted to use the justice system to get rid of Mapyane. According to Goosen, the relationship between the two was sour prior to the charges.
Another witness who testified, Lt April Kabini of the Siyabuswa Police Station, was the investigating officer in one of the cases Mapyane claimed to have had to travel to Pretoria for.
According to the travel claim which was submitted in 2010, he had to meet the investigating officer to discuss the case. However, Kabini testified that the case was withdrawn in 2009. It was therefore impossible that Mapyane would have attended a meeting regarding
the case.
On Wednesday, when Mapyane’s trial continued, Goosen said that the version of events presented against his client in court, differed from the version held against him in his disciplinary hearing last year. At time of going to print, the case still continued.
