Former SAA board member appears in court after being arrested in Midrand
Arrested in connection with a number of extortion cases linked to her in East London, Yakhe Kwinana will make her next court appearance on March 24.
Yakhe Kwinana, former board member of South African Airways, appeared in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court on March 18.
She is facing charges of malicious damage to property and pointing of a firearm.
This comes after she was arrested during an inter-provincial operation launched in Midrand on March 17 by the South African Police Service (SAPS).
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The 60-year-old has been linked to a number of taxi violence and extortion cases in East London. It is alleged that Kwinana would be accompanied by armed men who would threaten her victims whenever she would take money from them.
The victims’ property was also, allegedly, demolished by these men, on orders given by the suspect.
Police spokesperson Major General Nonkululeko Phokane said: “A multi-disciplinary team consisting of members from the National Intervention Unit (NIU), Gauteng Serious and Violent Crime (SVCI), Tactical Response Team (TRT), and the National Traffic Anti-Corruption Unit acted on intelligence leading to the arrest of the suspect in Midrand.
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“In 2024, the Minister of police, Senzo Mchunu, established a national task team to deal decisively with extortion-related crimes.
Multi-disciplinary teams have been deployed to prevent, combat, investigate, and arrest those behind incidents of gang violence and extortion in the country.”
Police urge community members to report any criminal activities to their nearest police station, or leave an anonymous tip-off on the MySAPS app.
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