Byline: Nonjabuliso Nhlambo

10 October 2025

The SAPS continues to demonstrate its commitment to upholding the law, even when those implicated are within its own ranks. In the early hours of today, Friday 10 October 2025 after 00h00 am, four (04) SAPS members from Limpopo, aged between 34 and 41, along with a 29-year-old male civilian, were arrested in Lydenburg by members of the Police in Lydenburg in connection with a house robbery last night.

At approximately 23h50 on Thursday, 09 October 2025, the men and women in Blue responded swiftly to reports of a house robbery in progress ata certain house in Lydenburg (Mashishing). It is alleged that the victims, who are Ethiopian nationals, were asleep when they were attacked by a group of armed suspects.

The suspects were reportedly using three vehicles:

 • A grey double-cab Toyota bakkie with Limpopo registration number plates

 • A private vehicle, (registration number unknown)

 • A marked SAPS VW Golf GTI, confirmed to belong to the Polokwane Flying Squad.

The private vehicle (Suzuki/Avanza) reportedly fled the scene carrying multiple boxes of suspected illicit cigarettes and an undisclosed amount of cash.

At the scene, three male SAPS members and one female member — all attached to various Limpopo SAPS Units — were arrested. A civilian suspect was also detained. Both the marked police vehicle and the Toyota bakkie were seized.

Further investigation at the scene led to the seizure of boxes of illicit cigarettes with an estimated street value of about R1.5 million, and R950,000 in cash found at the scene. Police also discovered that the registration plates on the seized vehicles had been tampered with using black sellotape, presumably to conceal their identities. There were also ammunition seized at the scene.

Two of the arrested police officers were found in possession of their official service firearms, which have since been confiscated.

All five suspects remain in custody as investigations continue. They are expected to appear in the Mashishing Magistrate’s Court on Monday, 13 October 2025, facing charges of house robbery. Additional charges may be added as the investigation unfolds.

The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI) Unit will carry on with the investigation.

The Acting Provincial Commissioner of the SAPS in Mpumalanga, Major General Dr Zeph Mkhwanazi, has welcomed the arrests and reaffirmed SAPS’s commitment to rooting out criminal elements, regardless of their rank or affiliation. “No one is above the law. We will not tolerate any form of criminality within our ranks. The swift arrest of these individuals demonstrates our zero-tolerance approach to corruption and criminal behaviour,” said Major General Mkhwanazi.