HERTZOGVILLE -A dismissed police sergeant in Hertzogville, Free State, is facing criminal prosecution following a SAPS Anti-Corruption Unit investigation into state petrol card fraud. The suspect, Thomas Pule Shomolekae, was served with a summons on Tuesday, officially charging him with fraud.

Lt Col Thabo Covane, provincial spokesperson for the police, said Shomolekae was expected to make his first appearance before the Hertzogville Magistrates Court on 12 November. He said the case stemmed from the alleged use of the petrol card for personal benefit at a local filling station on 9 November last year.

Covane said criminal prosecution came after the suspect’s dismissal from the SAPS following an internal disciplinary process. He said Shomolekae was attached to the Hertzogville Detective Unit at the time of the alleged fraud. An investigation revealed there was collusion to commit the fraud.

“Shomolekae allegedly drove to the Fuelrite filling station where he approached a petrol attendant known as ‘Mavi’ with a fraudulent scheme to secure cash. He allegedly asked the attendant to find a civilian motorist willing to pay cash for fuel, planning to swipe the official SAPS fuel card for the transaction instead,” he said.

Covane said a civilian’s grey Isuzu bakkie was subsequently identified to facilitate the crime.
“The attendant filled the private vehicle with R700 worth of diesel and kept the pump running to dispense an additional R800 worth of diesel into a white state-owned vehicle Shomolekae was driving. The total bill of R1,500 was then settled using the state fuel card,” Covane explained.
He said the investigation revealed that Shomolekae and the petrol attendant allegedly split the R700 cash received from the civilian, with Shomolekae pocketing R400 and Mavi keeping R300.

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Covane said that Mavi may also face prosecution: “The petrol attendant is part of the ongoing investigation involving a state petrol card transaction.”

The Free State provincial police commissioner, Lieutenant General Solly Lesia, announced that at least 23 employees were dismissed for wrongdoing between January and June this year. He revealed this during the release of the provincial crime statistics for the first quarter of 2026/2027 and the fourth quarter of 2025/2026. Lesia stated that rogue employees, who include police officers, were dismissed for several reasons. These include misconduct, kidnapping, extortion, corruption, attempted murder, aiding an escape, rape, theft of fuel, absenteeism, and fraud.