Police officer faces new theft and fraud charges linked to Zarah Ramsamy hijacking
Theft and fraud charges
Zarah Ramsamy, 11, was killed during a carjacking
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CONSTABLE Minenhle Makhaye arrested for using a hijacking victim's bank card, now faces new theft and fraud charges.
The officer was found with 272 bank cards, some linked to the 2021 looting incidents in KwaZulu-Natal. Ten of which were analysed and found to have been stolen at the Bridge City Mall in Ntuzuma during the looting.
Makhaye appeared in the Durban Magistrate’s Court today (Tuesday). He was subpoenaed to court after Hawks investigators brought new charges of theft and fraud against him.
This was related to the hijacking of Shaida Ramsamy outside a fast food outlet in Malvern on September 11, 2024. Her 11-year-old daughter Zarah was killed during the hijacking.
Constable Minenhle Makhaye was arrested during a sting operation at his home in Seaview Constable Minenhle Makhaye
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According to the charge sheet, Makhaye gave authority to his friend, Nokwazi Ndlovu, to use Shaida Ramsamy’s FNB debit card to make purchases.
“On September 11, 2024, in Cato Manor, stole an FNB card belonging to Shaida Ramsamy. On September 12, 2024, he was charged for fraud for allegedly defrauding and misrepresenting Nokwazi Ndlovu. He misrepresented that he was the owner of the debit card from FNB with which he used to purchase goods.
“He was not the owner of the debit card and had no authority to use the card, thus committing fraud,” the charge sheet read.
The case was adjourned.
Makhaye was initially arrested three weeks after Ramsamy’s hijacking.
CCTV footage from a liquor store in Rossburgh allegedly linked him to Ramsamy’s bank card. He and two of his friends were allegedly captured in footage using the card to purchase alcohol worth R1 000.
He allegedly stole the bank card while he was tasked to drive Ramsamy’s recovered stolen vehicle to the police station.
He was denied bail at the Durban Magistrate’s Court after his arrest, and lost the appeal against his bail ruling in June this year.
However, in July, he was released from police custody after the case was struck off the court roll.