Western Cape police chief warns cops as constable nabbed for allegedly helping suspect to escape

In the most recent example of suspected corruption involving a SAPS member, Cheslyn Heckrath, a police constable from Belhar Police Station, was arrested on Monday, 20 November at the station for allegedly accepting R1,000 to assist a fraud suspect escape from custody.

A video circulated on social media shows members of the Western Cape Anti-Corruption Unit storming the police station on Monday and handcuffing Heckrath while reading him a warrant of arrest for corruption and aiding and abetting an accused.

Video link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QY9t5-iWaHs

According to Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant General Thembisile Patekile, the policeman’s arrest relates to allegations that he accepted money and helped a 22-year-old man, who was arrested on Friday, 17 November 2023 on suspicion of fraud, to escape from the holding cells.

“Whilst in detention the suspect was approached by the SAPS member who requested him to pay an amount of R1,000 in exchange to be assisted to escape. The suspect made arrangements and received the cash via e-wallet.

“The constable then assisted the suspect to escape during the night as per their prior arrangement. The suspect, however, was re-arrested in the early hours of Saturday, 18 November 2023, when he blew the whistle on corruption,” Patekile said.

Following an investigation, the docket was filed with the Directorate of Public Prosecution and it issued an arrest warrant, which was duly executed on Monday.

Heckrath appeared briefly before the Bellville Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday on a charge of corruption and aiding and abetting escape from lawful custody. He was released on R2,000 bail, and his case was postponed until 30 January 2024.

Patekile issued a harsh warning to all SAPS employees in the Western Cape to refrain from corruption and criminality.

“Members of the public are encouraged to report incidents of corruption so that the SAPS can be rid of bad elements who tarnish the good reputation and loyalty of hardworking police officers,” the provincial commissioner said.

The latest corruption allegation involving a SAPS officer comes only one day after former Hawks commander Esmerelda Bailey was convicted by the Bellville Serious Commercial Crimes Court on charges ranging from corruption to drug possession, obstruction of justice and firearm loss.

Bailey is known for the investigation that led to Dina Rodriques being sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of baby Jordan Leigh Norton in June 2005.

Bailey was arrested and charged in December 2011 by the Serious Corruption Investigation team after she stole an exhibit firearm, sold a docket, stole a cellphone from a crime scene and sold a set of police uniforms. She was released on R10,000 bail in the Cape Town Magistrates’ Court in December 2011.

According to Hawks spokesperson Warrant Officer Zinzi Hani, her conviction follows numerous court appearances. The matter has been remanded to 24 November 2023 for pre-sentencing. Bail has been extended.

These two cases are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to reports of significant corruption within the SAPS, according to a recent report by Gun Free South Africa and the African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Cops can’t be trusted to turn around SA’s decades-old trajectory of firearm control failures – new report

The report – The State of the Central Firearms Registry in South Africa: Challenges and opportunities – was launched in July 2023. Daily Maverick has reported extensively on it and allegations of police corruption relating to guns.

One of the most recent cases is the trial of former police sergeant Alfonso Cloete, suspected of being a member of the 28 Mobster gang. The case is being heard before Judge Deidre Kusevitsky in the Western Cape High Court.

The gang, allegedly headed by Elcardo Adams, reportedly has ties to the 28s gang. According to the indictment, which contains an array of serious charges, it is alleged that Sergeant Roderique Brown sold his private firearm to Cloete in 2017. This firearm was later found at the gang’s stronghold in Happy Valley, Blackheath, during a police search.

The gang is accused of contravening the Prevention of Organised Crime Act, murder, attempted murder, dealing in drugs, illegal possession of ammunition and firearms and possession of explosives. One of the attempted murder charges against the accused, including Cloete, alleges that they conspired to assassinate the investigating officer, Sergeant Barnard Wilson, between March and June 2019.

Other reports related to alleged SAPS corruption include:

• October 2020: R200m later – how SA’s top cops captured police supply chain management for personal financial gain;


• December 2021: Alleged corrupt Anti-Gang Unit cop’s application for bail separation from co-accused Nafiz Modack dismissed – Former Anti-Gang Unit Sergeant Ashley Tabisher faces charges relating to an alleged corrupt relationship with purported underworld figure Nafiz Modack;


• April 2022: Richard Mdluli, former Crime Intelligence boss, forces another delay over legal costs in corruption case –Mdluli and his co-accused, Heine Barnard (former supply chain manager) and Solomon Lazarus (former chief financial officer of the State Security Agency) face 15 charges of fraud, corruption and contravening the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act. The alleged crimes were committed between 2008 and 2012;


• May 2022: Former police commissioner Phahlane fails to have R191m ‘blue light’ case struck off the roll;


• August 2022: AFU seizes homes, cars valued at R75-million in Blue Lights case swoop;


• September 2022: Police Minister Bheki Cele reports that in just six months, 24 Western Cape cops were arrested for fraud, extortion;


• October 2022: 28s gang ‘capture’ top Western Cape cops, prosecutors’ lives at risk – judge sounds corruption alarm – A disturbing high court judgment says that evidence points to 28s gangsters having wormed their way into the Western Cape’s cop management, accessing Crime Intelligence reports and meetings during which policing strategies are discussed;


• March 2023: Six cops in gang-ridden Western Cape arrested for ‘stealing perlemoen’ and escorting drugs for criminals – A group of police officers were collared for allegedly taking perlemoen from suspects and using an official vehicle to essentially ensure the safe passage of illicit drugs;


• May 2023: Assets of 45 people seized in R102m police corruption case;


• July 2023: The Free State Hawks Serious Corruption Investigation unit continues its investigation into police officers’ involvement in missing cash-in-transit money. The money in question was recovered during an armed robbery which occurred in February last year; and


• August 2023: Three policemen are arrested in Mpumalanga for R8,000 in coins stolen during a cash-in-transit heist. DM