Mpumalanga police sergeant arrested over diesel truck hijacking

A 44-year-old police sergeant attached to the Secunda Flying Squad has been arrested in connection with the hijacking of a diesel truck in Bethal.

The sergeant was arrested by members of the South African Police Service’s Organised Crime Investigation Unit in Mpumalanga on Friday morning, 4 September 2026.

The truck was hijacked in Bethal on 2 May. The case was subsequently escalated to the provincial Organised Crime Investigation Unit, which led to the arrest of four suspects in July.

Further investigations allegedly uncovered evidence linking the police sergeant to the planning of the hijacking.

A warrant for his arrest was issued and executed on Friday.

The sergeant remains in custody and is expected to appear in the Bethal Magistrate’s Court on Monday, 7 September, facing a charge of truck hijacking.

Mpumalanga provincial police commissioner Lieutenant General Apaphia Modise welcomed the arrest, saying the SAPS would not tolerate criminality within its rank.

“The arrest of one of our own members is clear proof that we act without fear or favour and that no one is above the law,” Modise said.

He said the arrest demonstrated the SAPS’s commitment to “cleaning its own house” and warned that officers involved in criminal or corrupt activities would not be spared.