Honeydew constable secures hefty sentence
Not only is this Constable trying to clean up the streets but he is also working his way up the rank to become a detective
Constable Dakalo Muanalo, a new member of the Honeydew Police Station wants to bring all those who work against the law to book. Constable Muanalo joined the SAPS on March 4, 2019 as a trainee at the SAPS academy in Pretoria. After the training he was posted to Honeydew Police Station to work in visible policing. Later he started working on serious and violent crime cases, and is currently working his way up the rank to become a detective. The cases that the constable mostly works on are robberies, armed robberies, murder, attempted murder and sometimes intimidation.
A docket that was handed to the Constable last year on December 17 was about a woman who was on her way to work on Bothma and Deysel Street in Wilgespruit two days before when she was attacked by men who had been following her. Jafta Masilela, 29, was armed with a knife and the other unknown man was unarmed, and he allegedly held the victim while Masilela stole her personal belongings – a wallet, bracelet and handbag. A community member who witnessed what was happening shouted for help, and other community members came out to assist the victim. The unknown attacker got away, but community members restrained Masilela who had the stolen goods in his possession.
The charges on the docket when the constable received it were robbery with possession of weapon, possession of stolen property, with Masilela being charged for the crimes. Some documents were missing from the docket, such as the medical report, and the constable also had to take the complainant/ victim’s statement again as visible policing had taken the first statement while the victim was still traumatised.
“I needed to get the documents so that the docket could be placed on the court roll,” said Muanalo.
He found that the crime had been committed at around 07:00 on December 15, near the Honeydew Police Station, and that the unknown attacker had strangled the victim. He obtained the medical records from Helen Joseph Hospital and the complainant’s statement. He also got the SAP 69, ” … a record to show whether the suspect could be linked to previous cases or had previous convictions,” explained the constable. He found that this was Masilela’s first arrest and that he had no priors on his record. Furthermore he is a foreign national with no passport which also meant that he was an illegal immigrant. The docket subsequently was placed on the roll at the Roodepoort Magistrate’s Court.
Muanalo opposed the suspect’s bail and he remained in prison until the case was finalised. The foreign national pleaded guilty to the crime that he had committed and on March 7, 2022, he was sentenced to 10 years direct imprisonment with no suspension for armed robbery and possession of stolen property. “And he was declared unfit to possess a firearm for life,” Muanalo added.
