‘Heist’ officer ‘sexually harassed’ during arrest

One of four officers involved in a R20-million jewelery heist in Llandudno claims he was sexually harassed while in custody.

Mthuthuzeli Mafanya took the stand at the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court on Monday as the bail application continued.

The officer and his co-suspects Jacobus Adriaan Groenewald, Bradley Dimitri Minnaar and Bathandwa Soldati were arrested in September after robbing a house in the Larney district.

The officers, from the Operation Restore Unit and stationed throughout Cape Town, are accused of organizing a robbery.

Mafanya claimed he was inappropriately touched by a female officer during his trial.

“While a captain was taking down my alibi, a female officer touched my chest. How can a female officer touch me like that? I have not opened a sexual harassment case, but I have informed my lawyer about what happened.”

He went on to describe the “poor” treatment he received after handing himself over to police.

“They did not follow the procedure. They used this arrest as punishment.”

He said he was handcuffed and the metal hurt him, claiming: “That was a case of assault.”

Mafanya said he was taken to Wynberg police station for questioning, where he was “placed in a dark cell, alone, with only a mattress, I was not given any food. They wanted me to confess to something I didn’t do. I told them I would speak in court.”

Mafanya claims he and his co-suspect received a tip about one perl and drug syndicate at the Llandudno house, but the informants later changed their story and claimed there were two Nigerian criminals in the house – one wanted by Interpol for cybercrimes and the other renting a warehouse in Killarney Gardens where he kept drugs.