Terrorised Centurion family opens extortion case against TMPD
“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.”
A Centurion family has laid a charge of extortion against Tshwane metro police (TMPD) officers.
The couple, accompanied by AfriForum private prosecution adviser Natasha Venter, reported the case at the Lyttelton police station on Tuesday.
Yolanda and Neels Groenewald said on Monday, August 22 while returning from their son’s school event in Pretoria, were stopped by the said police on the R21 offramp.
Venter said 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.”
A female officer allegedly demanded that Neels immediately transfer R3 000 electronically to a certain bank account to ensure that the investigation against him “disappears”.
Neels 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.
Yolanda said 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,” she added.
Lyttelton police spokesperson Captain Dave Miller confirmed that a case of extortion was open at the police station.
Rekord’s attempts to get a comment from TMPD spokesperson Isaac Mahamba’s had been unsuccessful at the time of publication.
** Article amended
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