Arrest of criminal leads police to corrupt cops

I get great satisfaction when reading about corrupt cops being taken down.

In my opinion, corrupt cops are the rot in our society. At least a criminal acknowledges in some way that he is a criminal. A corrupt cop masquerades as a good civil servant, fighting against crime.

It also tarnishes the image of the SAPS, and spits in the face of those honest cops that put their life on the line for us everyday.

In the Star Newspaper it has been reported that the police have finally snared a suspected Mamelodi criminal, who has been on the run after skipping bail six months ago, and are bound to take down several corrupt cops that have aided his escape by taking bribes.

Elton Wynand was initially detained for running a suspected house robbery syndicate, who sold their merchandise across the Mozambican border.

When Wynand was finally arrested he offered R43 000 to the police officers who had arrested him, and asked them to reveal who had given the police the information that led to his arrest.

After receiving the information, he approached the whistleblower and shot him five times at close range. The victim was hospitalised and is now permanently wheelchair-bound.

Wynand skipped bail and is said to have been surviving by carrying around about R10 000 to bribe police officers who would arrest him.

The unfortunate thing is that this system was working.

Police spokesperson Sergeant Harris Seanego told reporters, “What has been making this hard for us is that he has been working hand in hand with police officers. Whenever we got a good lead, he would slip out of the net because he was getting inside information.”

How many police officers fell into his trap and accepted his bribes! But at least some good has come out of this arrest. Wynand wasn’t so lucky this time. Upon his latest arrest, Wynand tried to bribe the police again, and they played along, so that he could reveal more information about his activities.

Wynand apparently offered R100 000 for his release last week and took police to a house in Mamelodi to collect the money. There the police found plasma TVs, laptops and several other stolen items acquired during several house robberies.

The police then arrested Wynand and five other suspects in the process, including Wynand's wife. They have all been charged with possession of stolen goods.

Police are now looking for the officers who helped him to escape.

"This arrest is significant because it will help us root out the corrupt police officers who have been helping him elude justice," said Sergeant Harris Seanego.