A police intelligence-driven operation resulted in the arrest of the control prosecutor in Standerton on Tuesday, 28 July in connection with corruption and defeating the ends of justice.
The 35-year-old Mr Pule Aaron Christopher Mohanwe appeared in the Standerton Magistrate’s Court on Thursday, 30 July.
The Standerton Advertiser received a tip-off from a trustworthy source the same day at 12.50pm and tried to investigate by driving past the court.
The area however, was deserted and the informant said at 1.25pm that the suspect had been arrested.
The newspaper sent a WhatsApp-message to the communications officer of the Standerton Police, W/O Nkosinati Khanyile, at 1.39pm, requesting confirmation on the arrest.
A reply later the afternoon referred the newspaper to Brig Leonard Hlathi, Provincial Commissioner of Police.
Brig Hlathi issued a media statement for immediate release on 28 July and the newspaper posted a short article on its website, while more information was being gathered.
The statement read that information suggested that the prosecutor allegedly solicited bribes from suspects in an exchange for cases to either be withdrawn or struck from the court roll.
Police, through information gathered, followed up on his activities and apprehended him after he allegedly received an undisclosed amount of cash from a suspect, in exchange for withdrawal of a case.
The money was found on his person.
The statement concluded with the Provincial Commissioner of the South African Police in Mpumalanga, Lieut-Gen Mondli Zuma, saying he welcomed the arrest and commended police for their sterling work.
“The wheels of justice cannot be allowed to stop rolling by corrupt elements within the system,” he added.
“The law must take its course without fear or favour and our efforts of rooting out corruption are continuing to yield positive results.”
According to a trustworthy source, Standerton’s detectives, crime prevention and K9-units, as well as surveillance and covert units from Middelburg were involved in the arrest.
Information also suggests that the public prosecutor, who also controlled the dockets, allegedly managed to especially get drug-related cases withdrawn or struck from the roll.
An enquiry was lodged on 1 April and a network operation followed to address the target with transactions.
A shallow cover agent made the first transaction on 18 June at the court in Standerton, was subsequently apprehended and police case 136/06/2020 was opened.
The other agent went to do the transaction with the prosecutor on 28 July, in exchange for the docket to be withdrawn.
It yielded a successful result and an operation was planned once again.
One shallow cover agent was arrested in connection with possession of drugs and police opened case 200/07/2020, while the other agent made a transaction with the prosecutor, amounting to R5 000.
The money was allegedly paid to the prosecutor.
The records office at the Standerton Magistrate’s Court indicated on Thursday, 30 July that the suspect is to appear in court on Tuesday, 4 August for a formal bail application.
