Criminal cop sentence warning for others
KZN police chief Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi says the hefty sentence handed to a former detective convicted of conspiracy to commit murder should be a wake-up call to crooked cops.
Roshanlal Banawo was slapped with a 10-year sentence by the Newcastle Regional Court on Wednesday for plotting to kill Umzinyathi district commissioner Francis Slambert.
The detective Captain was dismissed in 2021 after he was allegedly linked to a drug syndicate that Slambert was investigating.
He was arrested in November 2023 after intelligence found that he had failed in three attempts to kill her.
Banawo offered two men R50,000 to carry out the hit in his last attempt.
The pair turned state witnesses and weren't prosecuted.
Mkhwanazi welcomed the sentence.
"The disturbing thing in the main was that the person behind the criminal syndicates is a policeman, who served the SAPS for 39 years, short of six months before he goes on retirement.
“We are quite happy the court has found this man guilty. We can take the 10 years, and at least we hope that this will restore law and order in the district."
Speaking outside court after sentencing, Slambert says she won't be deterred from doing her job.
"I'm not saying that I'm not bruised, but I'm saying we are vindicated as the SAPS, and I have actually become 'funyuka bamphete'- the one who got away.
Trust the system, and the system has shown that yes, justice can be served. It may be delayed a little, but it will be served."
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