Hawks arrest former constable at Ermelo prison over R8 000 police fleet card
Bafo Siyabonga Cindi, dismissed from the SAPS in May 2026 and already held on separate stock theft charges, appeared in the Standerton Magistrate's Court on fraud and theft counts.
A former South African Police Service constable already held on separate stock theft charges has been arrested again, this time over an alleged R8 000 run on a police fleet card, the Hawks say.
Bafo Siyabonga Cindi, 35, appeared before the Standerton Magistrate’s Court in Mpumalanga on 22 October 2026 on charges of fraud and theft. The matter was postponed to 5 November 2026 to allow him to secure legal representation.
The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, known as the Hawks, says Cindi misappropriated SAPS FNB fleet card funds for personal use while he was serving as a police investigator attached to the Stock Theft and Endangered Species Unit in Standerton. The alleged personal transactions on the card amount to approximately R8 000.
The investigation began in 2024 after the unit reported the matter. The Hawks’ Secunda Serious Corruption Investigation took it up, submitted the case docket to the National Prosecuting Authority, and an application for a warrant of arrest was authorised.
Hawks members executed that warrant on Thursday at the Ermelo Correctional Centre, where Cindi is detained pending trial in separate stock theft cases registered in Perdekop and Greylingstad. He was previously denied bail in those matters. The SAPS dismissed him in May 2026.
Brigadier Bruce Davenport, Acting Provincial Head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation in Mpumalanga, said the arrest showed the Hawks were committed to accountability within law enforcement and the wider public sector.
“No uniform, badge or rank places anyone above the law. Those who abuse their authority and misuse state resources for personal enrichment will face the full might of the law,” Davenport said in a statement on Friday.
He added that the Hawks in Mpumalanga remained committed to protecting the integrity of the criminal justice system and restoring public confidence through decisive action against corruption.
The charges against Cindi have not been tested in court. This report is drawn from the SAnews (South African Government News Agency) account of the Hawks statement, published at https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/additional-fraud-and-theft-charges-former-cop, rather than from the court record itself.
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