Some dockets were burnt when an archive office at the Barberton police station in Mpumalanga caught fire on Thursday morning.
Police spokesperson Brigadier Donald Mdluli said officers noticed smoke emanating from one of the offices at 11:00 when they alerted authorities.
“Firefighters were called to the scene and managed to extinguish the fire. Fortunately, no one was injured. However, some archived dockets were burnt through; the figures are yet to be determined,” he said.
“An investigation regarding this incident is under way.”
Acting provincial police commissioner Major-General Zeph Mkhwanazi reassured members of the public that a team had been appointed to uncover the circumstances.
Mkhwanazi also clarified that the fire had nothing to do with the arrests of four officers attached to the Barberton detectives.
Sergeant Danisile Precious Mahlangu, 47, Sergeant Mandla Saky Ndlovu, 49, Sergeant Bongani Dlamini, 40, and Sergeant Doctor Zulu, 42, appeared in the Barberton Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday for alleged theft of cash and defeating the ends of justice.
They were each released on R5 000 bail with conditions such as surrendering their passports and not interfering with witnesses.
The four stand accused of stealing R1.8 million cash from an alleged zama zama paymaster’s house in Barberton that was hidden inside a bag in a wardrobe without booking it in or registering a docket.
