PRETORIA – Suspended police Sergeant Fannie Nkosi has formally resigned from the South African Police Service (SAPS) while in custody facing serious criminal charges. National police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe confirmed on Saturday that the SAPS had received Nkosi’s resignation letter on Friday, which was reportedly submitted ahead of his scheduled internal disciplinary hearing.
The 42-year-old Nkosi, who was attached to the high-profile Gauteng Organised Crime Unit, was suspended earlier this year. He went from being a pivotal witness at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry to a high-profile criminal accused. His resignation marks the end of his official police career but does little to alleviate the intensifying legal storm surrounding him.
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Criminal charges
Nkosi’s descent into the criminal justice system began with a task team raid conducted at his Pretoria North home on 2 April this year. The operation, heavily linked to revelations emerging from his eight-day testimony at the Madlanga Commission, uncovered serious breaches of law enforcement protocol.
During the search, the specialised task team discovered R52 700 in cash hidden beneath a mattress. Furthermore, operatives found six original, closed SAPS case dockets – some directly connected to major cash-in-transit robberies – which Nkosi had no legal authorisation to possess whilst under suspension. The search also yielded seven unsecured licensed firearms, state-issued ammunition, an R5 rifle, a revolver, a 9mm pistol, a military-grade hand grenade, and multiple stun grenades.
Consequently, Nkosi was charged with a raft of severe criminal offences. These include fraud, theft, money laundering, defeating the ends of justice, the unlawful possession of explosives and ammunition, and multiple counts of failing to safeguard firearms under the Firearms Control Act.
During proceedings at the Madlanga Commission, testimonies from multiple witnesses directly implicated Nkosi as an intermediary between high-ranking police officials and powerful criminal cartel members. These allegations would prove pivotal in the subsequent criminal investigation.
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Limpopo drug tampering scandal
Beyond the Pretoria raid, Nkosi faces entirely separate criminal charges in Venda, Limpopo, tracing back to a November 2022 drug bust in Thohoyandou. In that case, local police had confiscated a massive haul of dagga, illegal firearms, and explosives.
State prosecutors allege that months after the initial bust, Nkosi travelled to the Thohoyandou Police Station and falsely presented himself as a high-ranking colonel dispatched directly from the SAPS national head office. Using this fabricated authority, he allegedly seized the original case file and removed the confiscated dagga from police storage. Though he later booked the exhibit in at the Pretoria headquarters, forensic inspection revealed that the exhibit bags had apparently been severely tampered with.
Why Nkosi remains in custody
Nkosi remains behind bars after being denied bail in the Pretoria North Magistrate’s Court on 22 April, following strong opposition from the State. Given the gravity of the offences, the magistrate ruled that releasing him posed a significant threat to the administration of justice and a high risk of witness interference.
Seeking his freedom, Nkosi escalated the matter to the judiciary, but his leave to appeal the bail refusal was decisively dismissed by the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on 22 June.
Nkosi, who previously maintained that the charges were entirely fabricated, has since submitted formal representations to the Director of Public Prosecutions under the National Prosecuting Authority, requesting a full review of the decision to prosecute him. His centralised criminal case has been postponed to 5 November, awaiting the outcome of those legal representations.
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