It was a "get out of jail free" card of sorts. Your R30 000 payment gave you a new, "clean criminal record". That is if you knew three men - one a police captain, who appeared on Tuesday in the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crime Court.
Thabo January Kabini, 49, a casual worker from KwaMhlanga, Mpumalanga taxi driver Thomas van der Merwe, 43, and Captain Mananya Joseph Marokane, 46, of Soshanguve, have pleaded guilty to charges of theft and corruption. Acting with a common purpose, they stole the documents pertaining to the criminal profile of Lucky Tileni Mathebula and removed his criminal record from the police's Criminal Record Centre system. Unknown to them, however, the person who asked for their help was a police informer, working as part of a police sting to crack the "business".
Criminal records may be altered or updated only when a "set aside" document is received from the Justice Department. Although Marokane was stationed at the record centre's adjudication section, he wasn't authorised to cancel or alter any existing criminal records. Van der Merwe said in his plea explanation that Kabini was a childhood friend. "He asked me to recruit 'clients' with criminal records so that we could 'assist' them in return for payment."
The case was postponed to September.
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