A 34-year-old man who allegedly stole a police uniform while he was working at an officer’s house has been arrested for impersonating a police officer at the Jeppes Reef border post in Mpumalanga.
A 34-YEAR-old man who allegedly stole a police uniform from a cop’s house he had been working at, has been arrested for impersonating a police officer at the Jeppes Reef border post in Mpumalanga.
Mpumalanga police spokesperson Brigadier Selvy Mohlala said the police received information about a suspicious civilian man who was wearing some items of the SAPS uniform at the border post on April 5.
The suspect, Nkosingiphile Siyalu Mancoba, had allegedly pretended to be a police sergeant and robbed victims at the border, Mohlala said.
“These suspicious activities were reported to the police by a concerned citizen. The suspect was eventually cornered.”
During his arrest, Mancoba was found wearing a police uniform with a female shirt, male trousers and brown shoes.
“Upon arrival at Schoemansdal police station, one female police officer identified him as the one whom she once hired to install a ceiling at her house between February and March 2022.
“Through the investigation, it was discovered that during the period he was hired by the member, he allegedly stole her police uniform (shirts).”
Mohlala said the police were still investigating where he got the other items from.
Mancoba appeared in the Nkomazi Magistrate’s Court in Tonga on charges of impersonating the police as well as theft.
He is expected to apply for bail on Tuesday.
The provincial commissioner of the SAPS in Mpumalanga, Lieutenant-General Semakaleng Daphney Manamela, has strongly warned those doing all they can to get their hands on police items, including firearms, that such behaviour will never be tolerated.
“Given the recent incidents whereby members of the police were targeted by criminals for their tools of trade, this has made us to be more vigilant. We will deal strongly with those who take us for granted and we will never back down nor allow the situation to continue unabated,“ Manamela said.
