The South African justice system was dealt yet another blow on Friday with the arrest of three officers of the law in Musina on allegations of corruption.

Regional court magistrate Ronnie Rambau, regional court prosecutor Estene Willemse and Musina attorney T E Lubisi spent the weekend behind bars, following their arrest late in the afternoon. This follows an investigation by the country’s Counter-Intelligence Unit relating to corruption within the Department of Justice.

An operation was conducted in the Musina area, targeting corrupt officials involved in subverting the course of justice by conspiring to pre-determine minimum sentencing of vehicle thieves through plea-bargaining. The operation culminated in a Section 252A authorized trap. Rambau, Willemse and Lubisi were arrested after the cash used in the trap was recovered in their possession.

Their arrest did not go without incident. At around midnight on Friday evening, Willemse was moved to the police cells at Bandolierkop, apparently for his own safety. On Saturday, Rambau and Lubisi were wandering around the police station, uncuffed and out of the police cells. Following senior police intervention, Rambau was moved to the police holding cells at Tshamutumbu, while Lubisi was moved to the police’s holding cells at Masisi. At the time of going to press, it was unclear who had ordered Rambau and Lubisi to be released from custody.

Rambau, Willemse and Lubisi appeared before court on Monday, during which they were each granted R10 000 bail. Their case was postponed until March 30, pending further investigation. A state attorney and magistrate still have to be appointed to hear the case. It is likely that the case will be heard in front of a regional court outside the Thohoyandou Cluster, under which Musina falls. As part of their conditions of bail, Rambau and Willemse were prohibited from coming anywhere near a court building within the cluster and they are also prohibited from talking to any court personnel within the cluster. Lubisi was prohibited from coming near the magistrate’s court building in Musina and from talking to any of the Musina magistrate’s court’s personnel.