S v Ramphelo

• Jurisdiction: http://justis.com/jurisdiction/166,South Africa
• Judge: Kganyago J and Naude-Odendaal J
• Judgment Date: 01 September 2022
• Counsel: UB Makuya (with R Resenga) for the appellant. SV Ngobeni for the respondent.
• Hearing Date: 26 August 2022
• Citation: 2022 (2) SACR 560 (LP)
• Court: Limpopo Division, Polokwane
• Docket Number: A 03/2020

Kganyago J (Naude-Odendaal J concurring):

[1] The appellant and her co-worker (accused 1) were charged and convicted of contravening the provisions of s 4(1) of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act [1] (the PCCA), to wit, corruption. It is alleged that the appellant and accused 1 whilst on duty as traffic officers received a gratification of R150 from one Moleketsi Paul Mugai for their own benefit in an illegal and dishonest way. The respondent had relied on the doctrine of common purpose in charging the appellant and accused 1 jointly. The appellant and accused 1 were found guilty as charged. The appellant was sentenced to two years' direct imprisonment without the option of a fine, whilst accused 1 was sentenced to four years' imprisonment of which two years were suspended for a period of four years. The appellant is appealing against both conviction and sentence with the leave of the court a quo.

[2] The appellant had pleaded not guilty to the charge during trial in the court a quo. The respondent had called four witnesses, whilst the appellant had closed her case without leading any evidence. The respondent's first witness was Timothy Seabi. He testified that he is a member of the South African Police Services (the SAPS), and lieutenant colonel by rank. At the beginning of 2017 their office received several complaints from the members of the community, officials from the Department of Transport, as well as officials from municipal offices, that police officers, as well as traffic officers posted along the different national, provincial and municipal roads within the Limpopo Province, were demanding gratification from motorists who were found to have faults or who contravened some rules and regulations of the road.

[3] They decided to form an operation with the code name Siyabangena in order to weed out that practice. His role in that operation was that of an operational manager. He was tasked with coordinating the operational team, as well as arranging all the logistics needed for when the operation would take place. He had to arrange for vehicles, audio and video equipment, as well as money. That operation consisted of handlers, investigators and agents. In the matter that led to the arrest of the appellant, the investigating officer was Capt Mungani, and the agent was Paul Mugai. Paul Mugai was an official from the Department of Roads and Traffic Management Centre stationed in Gauteng. His role in the operation was to go out and meet with the targets, communicate with them and only adhere to whatever demands made by the targets.

[4] The witness further stated that on 13 December 2017 he was present when the appellant and accused 1 were arrested. The appellant and accused 1 were arrested at Tzaneen Provincial Traffic Department. Before their arrest Paul was the one who identified the appellant and

Kganyago J (Naude-Odendaal J concurring)

accused 1 as the people who had demanded gratification from him. The witness was cross-examined by counsel for both the appellant and accused 1.

[5] The second witness to testify for the respondent was Mashudu Felicity Mungani. She testified that she is a member of the SAPS and captain by rank. She was part of the operation Siyabangena. Her role in that operation was that of an investigating officer. Her duties were to administer the dockets, collect evidence and give tasks to agents.

[6] She is the one who had tasked Paul with going out and conducting a trap in the Tzaneen area. She had instructed Paul that if he was stopped by police officers or traffic officers for any transgression of the National Road Traffic Act 93 of 1996, and those officers demand something of him, he must just give them what they requested. She gave Paul R500 which was state money, and also requested Lt Col Seabi to search Paul to make sure that when he went to do the operation, his own money did not mix with the money of the operation.

[7] Paul went out to do the operation, and later came back to report to her that he had made a transaction along the R71 road in Tzaneen with two traffic officers. That he had paid the two officers R150. Thereafter Paul handed in his written statement and also a memory card. The memory card had been put into the gadget which was secretly recording Paul and the two officers when the transaction was concluded. The witness took the memory card, registered it in the SAP13, and thereafter sealed it inside the forensic bag. She kept that evidence in her possession in a locked locker until the end of the operation. She was the only one who kept the keys to the locker and was the only official who had access to that locker.

[8] At the end of the operation she handed the forensic bag to Capt Selepe. Later she received a forensic bag from Capt Selepe which contained the memory card, old forensic bag that she had previously sealed, and a DVD and CD. She kept the forensic bag. She was present when the appellant and accused 1 were arrested. The appellant and accused 1 were pointed out by Paul as the people who took gratification money from him. The money that was paid as gratification was never received back. The witness was cross-examined.

[9] The respondent called Petrus Selepe as its third witness. He testified that he is a member of the SAPS and captain by rank, and is attached to the Directorate of Priority Crime Investigations under the Priority Management Centre in Polokwane. His duties entail attending crime scenes, the search and seizure of all digital-data residence devices, acquisition and analysis of electronic data, the extraction of data from magnetic-card readers, and the interrogation and extraction of data from mobile devices.

[10] On 7 March 2018 during the execution of his duties he received a service application from investigating officer...