After what they described as a ‘night of terror’ a Centurion family has opened a charge of extortion against Tshwane metro police officers they claim forced them to pay R12 000 by transferring part of the money and driving to two different ATMs to withdraw the remainder in August.

The couple, accompanied by AfriForum private prosecution adviser Natasha Venter, reported the case at the Lyttelton police station on Tuesday.

Yolanda and Neels Groenewald say on Monday, August 22 while returning from their son’s school event in Pretoria, were stopped by metro police officers on the R21 offramp.

Venter says the officers allegedly extorted R12 000 from the couple under the threat of jailtime.

“The officers threatened they would lock Neels, who was driving, up and only release him two days later.

“The officers also conveyed this message to his wife and child, who were waiting in the car on a pitch-dark night.”

The gang of officers were not wearing visible name tags.

“It was extremely traumatic for the family,” Venter says.

A female officer allegedly demanded that Groenewald immediately transfer R3 000 electronically to a certain bank account to ensure that the investigation against him ‘disappears’.

He then had to drive to two different ATMs to withdraw the remaining R9 000 and hand it over to the officers. Only then did the gang give him back his licence, and he and his family could go home.

The couple say they laid criminal charges because they felt that they needed to put a stop to law enforcement agencies extorting bribes from hard-working citizens.

“We laid these charges because we felt it could no longer go on like this. The metro police subjected us to a night of terror. It was traumatic for all of us, especially my son. This is not how police officers should behave and this is not how officials should treat citizens,” Yolanda Groenewald says.

Lyttelton police spokesperson Captain Dave Miller confirmed that a case of extortion was open at the police station.

Pretoria Rekord’s attempts to get a comment from Tshwane Metro Police Department spokesperson Isaac Mahamba’s had been unsuccessful at the time of publication.