South Africans in Disbelief After Zama Zama Cop Arrested in Mpumalanga

• The South African Police Service arrested a police officer and four other suspects in Mpumalanga for illegal mining activities
• The police arrested the officer during the operation, and during the arrest, they found illegal mining implements in his possession
• The police also discovered that he was previously arrested for another crime and Soth Africans were worn out by the officers arrested for criminal activities

Tebogo Mokwena, a Briefly News current affairs journalist in Johannesburg, South Africa, covered criminal activities, police investigations, police shootouts and court cases at Daily Sun for over three years.

BARBERTON, MPUMALANGA— The South African Police Service (SAPS) in Mpumalanga arrested a 47 year-old police officer from Barberton on 22 March 2025 for illegal mining.

What happened in Barberton?

According to the South African Police Service, the police arrested part of Operation Vula Umgodi. A multidisciplinary effort led the police to embark on the operation in Barberton. While they were operating, they saw a gold Toyota Fortune parked alongside the road between Barberton and Kapmuiden. The police searched the car and they found equipment used for illegal mining activities.

Read also

South African Police Service arrest 2 drug mules at OR Tambo, South Africans celebrate

When questioned, the police discovered that one of them was a police sergeant who was arrested in May last year after he was found in possession of dagga. He was released and the courts acquitted him. They were arrested and charged with possessing illegal mining equipment. They will appear before the Barberton Magistrate's Court on 24 March 2025.

Police officers arrested for crimes in the past

• The Independent Police Investigative Directorate arrested two police officers in March last year after a suspect died while in their custody
• Three police officers were caught robbing a motorist of his phone in the Free State in July
• An immigration officer angered South Africans after she was arrested in September for accepting bribes at the border
• A police officer was arrested for allegedly killing her son and his girlfriend in Botlokwa in Limpopo in February this year
• A constable from Gauteng was arrested in Limpopo with R85,000 worth of drugs while driving a suspected stolen vehicle

Read also

4 killed in clash between patrollers and residents in Soshanguve informal settlement

South Africans concerned

Netizens commenting on the South African Police Service Facebook post were worried about the rate of police officers committing crime.

Philaa Mkhangisa said:

"It's alarming how often we're seeing law enforcement officers implicated in crimes these days."

Dennis Masango said:

"Greed and corruption are the main drivers of illegal activities and criminality."

Sello Mogandedi asked:

"Does the police force do a background check of a person before hiring?"

Motsok Modisane said:

"For the past month, we saw a number of police officers involved in criminal activities like cash-in-transit heists, illegal mining, fake police stoppages or blue light criminal activities."

Junior Swartz said:

"They are not the only ones rotten. In Pretoria Central, I know a lot of sergeants and warrant officers who even sell drugs and have guys who sell drugs for them."

CCTV footage of officers helping hijackers goes viral

Read also

CCTV footage exposes SAPS officers assisting blue-light hijackers

In a related article, Briefly News reported that footage of police officers assisting hijackers commit a crime. A CCTV footage of the incident went viral and it angered many South Africans.

The clip shows how traffic officers stopped a security vehicle in early March and pretended to be asking for documentation. Suddenly, two hijackers forced the security officers out of the vehicle and one of them got inside. A police officer watched the entire ordeal unfold.

Source: Briefly News