South Africa: 12 police officers charged with corruption appear in court

South African anti-graft investigators have arrested 12 senior police officers on corruption and fraud allegations, prosecutors said Wednesday. The officers appeared later in a court in the capital, Pretoria.

National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola was served with a warrant ordering him to appear in court next month in relation to an investigation into an allegedly corrupt contract to provide health and well-being services to police officers, police spokesperson Brig. Athlenda Mathe said at a court appearance for the other officers.

The arrests come while an inquiry continues into allegations of high-ranking corruption in the South African police. The inquiry was ordered by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who also suspended the police minister last year. A second inquiry by Parliament is also looking at claims that senior police officers had corrupt relationships with alleged crime bosses and, in some cases, allegedly received money from them for favours.

The arrest of the 12 officers relates to an allegedly corrupt contract to provide health and well-being services to police officers, the National Prosecuting Authority’s anti-corruption investigative unit said in a statement.

It said a 13th person, the director of a company, was also arrested.

The police officers made their first court appearance on Wednesday alongside Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala, the owner of the Medicare24 company that was awarded the contract, who is suspected of links to organized crime.

Matlala is currently being held in a maximum-security prison on unrelated charges of attempted murder. All the officers submitted affidavits in support of their bail applications, and the prosecutors indicated to the Pretoria Magistrates' Court that they would not oppose their bail.

Some of the officers arrested were part of the bid committee that evaluated and awarded the contract, and prosecutors alleged on Wednesday that they should have disqualified the company’s application.