Suspended police officer arrested for using Zarah’s mom’s bank card back in court
Suspended police officer, Constable Minenhle Makhaye, who allegedly stole a bank card from Shaida Ramsamy following the death of her daughter during a hijacking, appeared in the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.
During the hijacking outside a fast food outlet in Malvern on September 11 last year, Ramsamy’s 11-year-old daughter Zarah was killed when armed hijackers drove over her as she hid under her mom's Toyota Fortuner.
Makhaye, 27, from the Cato Manor SAPS, was tasked to drive the recovered vehicle to the Malvern police station.
A day later, CCTV footage captured him using Ramsamy’s bank card to purchase alcohol at the Checkers Hyper Liquor Store in Southway Mall.
Detectives said he used the bank card to make two separate purchases, so as not to activate the card’s pin code prompt.
Makhaye was arrested on October 4, 2024, during a sting operation by the Hawks, and he was denied bail on October 30.
At the time of his arrest, he was found in possession of 272 bank cards from Capitec, Absa Bank, and FNB.
Investigators were also probing the possibility that he was part of a hijacking syndicate, and linked him to the July 2021 unrest. This was after it was established that 10 of the bank cards were stolen at Bridge City Mall in KwaMashu when it was looted.
State prosecutor, Calvin Govender, said the investigations related to the theft of the bank card that belonged to Ramsamy were finalised.
However, he said investigations into the additional charges that Makhaye faced, still needed to be completed. The matter was adjourned to next month.