A former police officer has been sentenced to five years’ direct imprisonment after he was convicted of corruption for soliciting a R200 bribe from an undercover agent posing as a motorist.
Former Sergeant Sello Milla (41) was sentenced by the Middelburg Regional Court on Thursday following an undercover operation conducted by the Hawks’ Nelspruit-based Serious Corruption Investigation unit, working with the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) and the Crime Intelligence Surveillance Unit.
According to the Hawks, the operation, which ran between 2018 and 2019, targeted law enforcement officials accused of soliciting and accepting bribes from motorists in Mpumalanga.
The Hawks said Milla, who was attached to the Middelburg Flying Squad at the time, unlawfully demanded R200 from an undercover operative on 23 June 2019. He was arrested shortly afterwards and charged with corruption.
Following the conclusion of the trial, the Middelburg Regional Court found Milla guilty and sentenced him to five years’ direct imprisonment.
Hawks Mpumalanga Provincial Head Major General Nico Gerber welcomed the conviction and sentence, saying the unit remains committed to rooting out corruption within law enforcement and ensuring that officials who abuse positions of trust are brought to justice.
“This jail sentence must send a stern warning to all corrupt officials that it is not only about the value involved. In this case, a mere R200 has landed the convict in jail for five years,” said Gerber.
