Two law enforcement officers from the City of Cape Town’s metal theft unit found themselves on the wrong side of the law this morning (2 December) when they were arrested by the Hawks’ Serious Corruption Investigation team for allegedly running an extortion racket targeting foreign-owned spaza shops.
The officers, aged 36 and 41, face charges of corruption, extortion and business robbery following a months-long investigation that uncovered an extortion scheme targeting spaza shop owners of thousands of rand.
According to Hawks spokesperson Warrant Officer Zinzi Hani, the duo’s modus operandi was that they would target foreign nationals operating spaza shops, demanding to see asylum documentation before extorting money, regardless of whether the papers were in order or not.
“With or without the documents, the officers would still demand money,” Hani explained. “On different occasions, victims paid amounts of R5 000 and R6 000.”
The investigation, conducted jointly by the Hawks and the City’s Safety and Security Information Management Services (SSIMS), revealed that the alleged corruption stretched from 31 January this year until the officers’ arrest this week.
It has also come to light that both suspects were previously arrested in May on similar charges, but were released on bail – only to allegedly continue their criminal activities while awaiting trial.
The Hawks investigation also uncovered that the officers allegedly stole cigarettes worth more than R600 000 from a victim’s vehicle, while the victim was being processed at Philippi East police station.
The two suspects are scheduled to appear in the Cape Town Regional Court tomorrow on charges of corruption, extortion and business robbery.
The City of Cape Town has been approached for comment but had not responded at the time of publication.
