Free State Court Clerk Charged With Theft After Murder and Rape Dockets Go Missing
- A Free State court clerk was arrested and has since appeared in court in connection with the disappearance of five police dockets
- Moeketsi Mokoena was arrested after dockets containing serious charges went missing from a locked prosecutor's office
- Mokoena has since faced a formal bail application after being charged with theft, while investigations continue into the matter
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Byron Pillay, a Briefly News journalist, has dedicated a decade to reporting on the South African political landscape, crime, and social issues. He worked as a newspaper journalist for 10 years before transitioning to online.
FREE STATE - A court official in Phuthaditjhaba has been arrested after five police dockets containing serious criminal charges went missing from a locked prosecutor's office.
Moeketsi Mokoena (34) was taken into custody on Monday, 31 August 2026, and appeared before the Phuthaditjhaba Magistrate's Court on Wednesday facing a charge of theft.
Dockets containing murder and rape charges vanished
According to police, the dockets were prepared between 21 and 23 August 2026 in preparation for court proceedings scheduled for the following Monday.
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They were secured inside the prosecutor's office ahead of the hearings. When an official arrived to collect them and transport them to court, all five dockets were found to be missing. The absent dockets covered a range of serious offences, including murder, rape, attempted murder, stock theft and sexual assault.
Investigators subsequently established that Mokoena, a court official and clerk, was linked to the disappearance. He was arrested and charged with theft. On Thursday, 3 September 2026, Mokoena returned to the Phuthaditjhaba Magistrate's Court for his formal bail application. The court granted him bail of R2,000.
The matter has been postponed to 22 October 2026 to allow for further investigations.
Other stories about clerks being arrested
- A South African Police Service clerk was arrested and appeared in court for allegedly trying to sell lion cubs.
- A school finance clerk was charged with 436 counts of fraud and theft after pocketing large sums of money.
- Former clerk given a 15-year sentence for stealing R13.4 million from a training centre in the Eastern Cape.
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Source: Briefly News
