Entire police flying squad of Mpumalanga town disbanded
The White River Flying Squad was disbanded by the provincial police commissioner following the recent arrest of three of its members.
The provincial police commissioner of Mpumalanga, Lieutenant General Semakaleng Manamela, has disbanded the White River Flying Squad.
This follows after the arrest of Sergeants Collen Cyprian Nonyane (47), Sunday Peace Mashego (41) and Bhekinkosi Stanley Goddi (41) on Friday August 18.
She called an urgent meeting with all the members that morning, and cracked the whip. She disbanded the whole unit and told them she wanted to know by 18:00 to where each member would prefer to be transferred.
This all follows a shootout two weeks ago, on August 11, when a robbery occurred at One Tree Hill on the Malalane/Jeppes Reef road and R8 000 in coins were allegedly stolen.
During the investigation, information came to light that weapons and explosives would be transported from Schoemansdal to KaNyamazane, where it was intended to be used during a CIT heist.
It was during this investigation that the spotlight fell on the possible involvement of some flying squad members.
Last week, a tracking team kept the above three policemen under surveillance. On the evening of August 17, the police tried to stop their flying squad car near the Nkomazi Plaza and a high-speed chase ensued out onto the Kaalrug Road, where a bag was flung from the car and landed in a sugar cane field.
The police fired shots at the vehicle, hitting a tyre. It came to a sudden stop, and the three policemen fled. Nonyane was shot in the hand and arrested on the spot.
In the bag the police found six rifles, two pistols, a bag of explosives, and cabling and a battery for the explosives. Mashego was arrested where he was hiding in a ditch next to the road.
On August 18, Goddi handed himself over to the police, accompanied by his lawyer.
On the morning of August 21, the trio, along with the four involved in the One Tree Hill robbery, Sergeant Sibusiso Musa Vilakazi (38), a taxi driver, Musa Bhekifa Ngwenyama (30), a Malawian national, Ali Obi Ebrahim (24), and safe haven owner Mfanasibili Lawrence Lubisi (44), appeared in the Malelane Periodical Court on charges of illegal possession of firearms, among others. The case was postponed to August 23 and then to August 28 due to technical problems.
The Mpumalanga NPA spokesperson, Monica Nyuswa, said the state will be opposing the bail due to the seriousness of the charges.
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