Key Points:
- Gauteng police commander arrested for theft, fraud, and defeating justice.
- He seized R165,000 worth of goods under false pretenses.
-
The court remanded the case to May 29, 2025.
Colonel Logan Govender, the Norwood police station commander, was arrested Tuesday by the Gauteng Provincial Anti-Corruption unit. This was on charges of theft, fraud, and defeating the ends of justice. The charges stem from his alleged involvement in the illegal seizure of goods worth R165,000.
The incident occurred on Aug. 21, 2020, when Govender reportedly orchestrated a fake operation to confiscate stock from a shop. As a result, the authorities were led to believe that the operation was legitimate. He was accompanied by a civilian, Oelof Abraham Du Plooy, who pretended to be an expert on illicit cigarettes from Adams and Adams Company. The pair claimed to have received a tip-off from the Crime Intelligence unit regarding the sale of illegal substances at the shop.
The Bogus Operation
At around 10 a.m. on the day of the operation, Govender and Du Plooy arrived at the shop, where Govender introduced himself and conducted a search. This led to the confiscation of Al Fakher molasses flavors worth R165,000.
However, in an unusual twist, the authorities made no arrests, nor did they initiate a formal criminal case. Instead, they booked the seized goods with SAPS Johannesburg Central and handed them over to Du Plooy under the false pretense that they would undergo laboratory testing. This raised suspicions about the operation’s true nature.
Discovery of the Deception
The situation began to unravel the next day when the shop owner, concerned about the goods, visited the police station and found that they had disappeared. Subsequently, he went to Adams and Adams, where he discovered that Du Plooy had no affiliation with the company. Realizing that someone had deceived him, the shop owner promptly filed a case with the authorities.
Investigation and Arrest
The Gauteng Provincial Anti-Corruption Unit took over the investigation and gathered evidence against Govender and Du Plooy. The authorities forwarded the case to the Director of Public Prosecutions, who authorized the prosecution of the two suspects.
Anti-Corruption Unit officers arrested Govender at a work meeting in Protea, Soweto, and executed the warrant. He appeared in Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court and received bail of R3,000. The court remanded the case to May 29, 2025.
