Three members of the Mpumalanga Hawks, one a senior commander, were suspended for, among others, failure to comply with a lawful instruction.

Brigadier William ‘Willy’ Mokonyama, the head of serious organised crime at the Hawks’ head office in the city, was suspended for one month. The two other members, Captain Stone Maboko from Middelburg and Warrant Officer Chris Kaloko from Secunda, were suspended for two months.

ALSO READ: Hawks arrest 8 traffic officials, 1 driving school owner in undercover operation

Brigadier Thandi Mbambo, head of communication for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, confirmed the matter on Tuesday, October 8. Their suspension follows a disciplinary hearing in which they were charged for failing to investigate a case of diesel theft.

ALSO READ: Mpumalanga Hawks hunt suspects following Mhala cash-in-transit heist

In July 2020, some Free State Hawks members arrested three suspects during a sting operation in Clewer near eMalahleni. The suspects were accused of stealing R1.4m’s worth of diesel from some Transnet pipelines in the Free State and in Mpumalanga. During the operation, the police confiscated two full fuel tankers and a generator. At the time, the suspects appeared briefly in the court in Vosman before the case was transferred to the Free State.

ALSO READ: A hallmark moment for newly appointed Hawks brigadier in Mpumalanga

Information was given to the Mpumalanga Hawks about an amount of R22 000 that had been discovered during the raid.

This money was tied to some other suspects. However, the case was never investigated.

“Following the findings of an investigation, corrective measures were instituted,” Mbambo said in a reply to a Lowvelder query.

“[Also] take note [that] discipline management is a corrective and not a punitive measure, that is meant to deal with misconduct by employees. It is upon this background that the issue that is the subject of your enquiry is regarded as an internal matter between employer and employee, and the details thereof will not be discussed in the media space.”