The policewoman couldn’t resist taking a handbag exhibit that was meant for safekeeping, now its landed her a criminal record.
THE ALLURE of a recovered brown Polo handbag was too much to resist for a policewoman, who placed it into a bigger bag with bright pink flowers and instead of locking both exhibits in a police station safe she decided to take them home.
That’s when Constable Eunice Ndlangane, 34, got on the wrong side of the law on April 29, 2020 and was eventually convicted and sentenced for the offence in the Durban Regional Court recently.
Apart from the theft and defeating the ends of justice charges for stealing the handbags that “look nice”, while in full uniform, Ndlangane, who was based at the Bellair police station, was also convicted on a separate corruption charge.
A month after being on bail for her arrest over the stolen bags, she was rearrested for soliciting a R1,000 bribe from a business owner on May 29, 2020, and received bail once again.
Both matters were merged into one and brought before Magistrate Anand Maharaj.
He treated all the counts as one for sentencing purposes and handed Ndlangane a R50,000 fine or two years imprisonment on May 24.
She was unable to pay the fine immediately, which resulted in her incarceration in Durban’s Westville Prison.
However, she paid her fine in full on Monday and was subsequently released.
Two suspects were arrested by Road Traffic Inspectorate (RTI) officers from the Rossburgh branch, during a stop-and-search operation, which was conducted by the SAPS provincial vehicle tracking team on April 29, 2020.
The suspects had stolen property and car-breaking implements in their vehicle.
The RTI officers took the suspects to the Bellair police station for detaining.
Ndlangane offered to assist by placing the recovered items into storage (SAPS 13 exhibit register).
One of the RTI officers noticed that some of the exhibits that were meant to be stored, including the very noticeable brown handbag with pink flowers, was missing.
While the RTI officers placed the suspects in detention at Bellair, two SAPS task team members were also present.
Both officers confirmed in affidavits that they noticed several ladies handbags being registered as exhibits, including the one with brightly coloured flowers.
They then noticed Ndlangane carrying the bag in question and placing it in a car.
When the two officers realised that Ndlangane had unlawfully taken the handbag, they questioned her about it and she was arrested.
Ndlangane was subsequently granted bail in the Durban Magistrate’s Court.
A month later, she talked the owner of a security company into paying her a R1,000 bribe to prevent charges being brought against his employee in another matter.
The owner laid a complaint and Ndlangane was arrested and charged.
Advocate Kuveshni Pillay was tasked with the prosecution of both matters, merged into one.
At the commencement of the trial, Ndlangane maintained her innocence and pleaded not guilty to the charges.
As Pillay was about to lead her first witness, Ndlangane had a change of heart, had a quick consult with her lawyer, and then made a written submission to the court.
Ndlangane admitted to demanding R1,000 from the business owner, which was paid to her, and that she “stole the bag because it looked nice and wanted it for personal use”.
In calling for a term of imprisonment for her respective offences, Pillay told the court that police officers like Ndlangane gave the SAPS a “bad name”.
Before sentencing the accused, Maharaj mentioned the various factors he considered.
He was cognisant of the responsibility placed on police to protect society and the impact such actions had on good officers, who were committed to their jobs.
Maharaj was mindful that Ndlangane was a mother, a breadwinner and was remorseful for her actions.
He also considered that the trial was about to begin when Ndlangane changed from not guilty and entered into a guilty plea, which prevented wastage of the court’s time.
