Authorities are set to decide whether a Durban police officer found in possession of hundreds of bank cards will face additional charges linked to the July 2021 unrest.
Constable Minenhle Makhaye was arrested in October last year after using a bank card belonging to the mother of 11-year-old hijacking victim, Zarah Ramsamy, to purchase alcohol. The officer had been responsible for transporting the family’s recovered SUV to a police facility.
During a subsequent search of Makhaye’s home, detectives discovered a box containing 272 additional bank cards. Investigators suspect the cards were stolen when a bank at KwaMashu’s Bridge City Mall was looted and set ablaze during the unrest.
A request to add unrest-related charges is currently under review by the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Makhaye appeared briefly in the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, where the case was postponed until next month for a final decision on the charges. He remains in custody.