MBOMBELA – The case against former provincial Hawks head, Gen Maj Simon Mapyane, resumed in the Nelspruit Regional Court on Thursday. Testimony pertaining to his alleged fraud was delivered by high-profile South Africans. The witness list included a scientist from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), a state advocate, a warrant officer and a general from the South African Police Services’ Organised Crime Unit.
Mapyane stands accused of allegedly claiming travel expenses for official trips he never undertook. He was arrested in May, 2014 and released on bail of R1 000.
According to the charge sheet, Mapyane requested remuneration in the amount of R 2 805,84 for travel expenses pertaining to a court case he had to attend in Pretoria on August 1, 2 and 3, 2010. He allegedly filed more claims for work-related travels between Mbombela and Pretoria, amounting to R 5 551,06, on September 1 and 2, 2010. It was further alleged that Mapyane had claimed R2 391,90 after travelling to Ogies on April 25, 2012. He was also charged with claiming R2 805, 85 in travel expenses pertaining to a work trip on September 9, 2010.
The SAPS’ disciplinary committee found Mapyane guilty of misrepresentation in that he had acted fraudulently. This was confirmed by Hawks spokesman
Brig Hangwani Mulaudzi on February 3 this year. He was dismissed with immediate effect. However, this finding is in no way indicative of his criminal liability, as the burden of proof in the two hearings differs.
Dr Peter Schmitz, a data mapping expert, testified in the criminal case against the accused on Thursday. Schmitz used data from cellphone-tower base stations to map the locations of Mapyane’s cellphone on some of the dates in question. Schmitz concluded that the person using that cell- phone had travelled from either KwaZulu- Natal or the Free State through Harrismith towards Soshanguve on August 1, 2010. According to Schmitz’ testimony, the person had slept in Soshanguve that evening. On August 2 he travelled to Mbombela. On August 3, the cellphone’s activity was centred in and around Mbombela. According to Schmitz, the data indicated that the cellphone did not leave Mbombela on September 1.
When state advocate Ms Grace Mosetlha rose to the witness stand on Friday, a letter she wrote on Mapyane’s instruction, was presented to court. It stated that she had called him to testify in a case she was handling in the North Gauteng High Court August 1 to 3. “The general (Mapyane) asked me to write the letter,” she said. However, she could not recall expressly confirming whether he had to come to court or not. She confirmed that he had been on her witness list at the time. She had not seen him on those three days.
Two witnesses were called regarding the incident on April 25, 2012. On Thursday, WO Paul Johannes Holtzhauzen testified that he was called to the Ogies Police Station on Mapyane’s instruction on that day. Holtzhauzen recalled seeing the police’s Hyundai kombi enter the station’s grounds. According to his testimony, Mapyane was seated inside it. Holtzhauzen said that the arrival and departure of a general was not something that went by unnoticed. “Mapyane and other members boarded the kombi at 05:00 and left the station,” he said. He did not see Mapyane’s private vehicle, in which he had travelled according to his travel claims, at the police station.
On Friday, Gen Elliot Dlamini testified. Dlamini testified that he had not seen Mapyane arrive at the station on April 25. He also testified about the pomp and circumstance involved when a general departed from a police station. “Procedure requires that if a senior official leaves, I must escort him to his vehicle. I walked with him to the vehicle – a white Hyundai kombi. I saluted him to show respect as he held a senior office,” Dlamini recalled. He added he had not seen the kombi leave the premises.
Mapyane’s counsel, Adv Herman Goosen, said that the charges against his client had been motivated by police members’ desire to “get rid of him”. When asked about their relationships with the accused, Holtzhauzen and Dlamini maintained that their relationship with Mapyane had never soured. Goosen said that his client had held the opposite. Goosen emphasised that the cellphone of which the mapping data was used, might not have been in his client’s possession at the relevant times. He also said that testimony led on Friday had been in conflict with testimony previously led by other state witnesses.
The case was postponed to June 23 and 25. Mapyane’s bail was extended.
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