EXPLAINER | The buildup to suspended cop Fannie Nkosi’s arrest

Suspended police officer Fannie Nkosi appeared in the Pretoria North Magistrates Court on Tuesday, five days after his arrest from his home in Dorandia, Pretoria North.

His arrest followed a search and seizure operation that was carried out by the newly appointed Madlanga cases task team.

In January, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the establishment of a special task team that will investigate cases emanating from the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry.

Nkosi’s case is one of the task team’s first cases where an arrest has been made.

The disgraced sergeant spent eight days on the witness stand at the commission responding to questions on allegations against him about his links to alleged crime bosses, Vusimuzi ‘Cat’ Matlala and Katiso ‘KT’ Molefe.

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Nkosi is accused of being the middleman between these figures and senior police officers, such as suspended senior officer General Shadrack Sibiya.

But while Nkosi’s arrest was effected by the Madlanga task team, the charges against him are not necessarily linked to the criminality that he has been accused of in the commission.

What Nkosi has now been charged with is in connection with what was found during the raid at his home.

According to police, after Nkosi was officially suspended on 28 March, he was required to hand over all South African Police Service (SAPS) property, such as his service pistol, ammunition and dockets. But investigators allegedly received a tip-off about "suspicious activity" at Nkosi’s Dorandia home and that’s when they applied for a search warrant, which police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe said was granted on 2 April and immediately executed.

Mathe said Nkosi was found with seven licensed firearms, State-issued ammunition and six dockets.

FIREARMS AND AMMUNITION

Mathe said only four of the seven firearms were found in a safe, which is required by the Firearms Control Act. He has been charged with the handling of his guns.

“The safe where the four firearms were found was not mounted on a wall or on the floor. They then found three other firearms. They found the 38 special revolver in between the mattresses of his room, which is another contravention because all firearms must be in a safe. They then found a Norinco R5 under his bed, which is another contravention. Then they found a 9mm Beretta pistol in his car.

Nkosi was also found with multiple rounds of ammunition, 35 AK47 rounds, 9mm R5 rounds. Police also discovered State-issued ammunition, which Nkosi was supposed to have handed over upon his suspension.

DOCKETS

During the search and seizure at Nkosi’s wendy house, six dockets were found by police - five originals and one copy.

This is contrary to what was said by Nkosi’s lawyer, Adv Sazi Dlali, in court. He claimed that all the dockets were copies and not originals.

Mathe has noted that all the dockets are linked to serious and violent crimes

“It’s CIT robberies, one that happened in Roodeport, one in Musina Limpopo, two other car hijacking cases. Upon further investigation, what we found is that when you look at the system, they are closed as undetected. So through investigation, when you close a docket as undetected, it means you cannot find any links. There is no new information and the case is closed as undetected, it is archived.”

Police have explained that dockets of archived cases should not be in the possession of an investigating officer, but they should be in the SAPS storage facility.

WHAT HAPPENED IN COURT

When the matter appeared before Magistrate Rene Venter, she addressed the application for recording and broadcast by the media. While the State did not oppose the application, Nkosi’s lawyers said they needed time to consider it, but they were bothered by what they perceived to be a delay by the media.

According to regular practice, most courts require the media to make an application to record, broadcast or take pictures on the day of the appearance. There are some exceptions, but this is the standard practice.

Magistrate Venter, however, insisted that the media should have brought their application the day before Nkosi’s appearance. This is despite the State explaining that Nkosi was arrested just before the Easter weekend, and the media did not know about his arrest until the day before his appearance.

Ultimately, Venter denied the media permission to record and broadcast proceedings, saying they should bring a new application for the next appearance timeously.

Nkosi instructed his lawyers to push for a bail application to be heard during his first appearance, but the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), which is opposing his release, brought an application for the matter to be postponed for six days to allow time for further investigations. Ultimately, Magistrate Venter ruled in the State’s favour.

It was clear during his appearance that the sergeant was also desperate not to be detained at the Kgosi Mampuru prison, pending his bail hearing.

Dlali alerted the court about Nkosi’s safety concerns for a second time and the fear for his life. Earlier on in the proceedings, Nkosi told the court that he had not eaten since his arrest on Thursday because he feared for his life.

He instructed his lawyers to request an order for him to be kept at the Valeria Police Station, where he has been detained since his arrest. But Magistrate Venter gave him options between a single cell at Kgosi Mampuru Prison or staying in the hospital wing, and Nkosi opted for the hospital wing.

The disgraced sergeant will remain behind bars until his formal bail application on Monday, 13 April.