I was a sacrificial lamb - Mdunge

Durban - Former KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Vincent Mdunge, who was jailed for possessing a fake matric certificate, said he was used as a “sacrificial lamb” by those who were plotting against former police boss Lieutenant-General Mmamonnye Ngobeni.

Mdunge, who was released on parole in August last year after spending two years in prison, said his loyalty to Ngobeni had stood in the way of her opponents.

Mdunge was found guilty on five charges, three counts of fraud and two counts of forgery in 2014 after he produced a fake matric certificate that secured him a promotion and helped to advance his career within the SAPS.

In 2015 Mdunge was sentenced, but he appealed against the sentence and began serving jail time only in August 2017. His sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court of Appeal.

For the first time since he was released from prison, Mdunge spoke to SABC radio station Ukhozi FM yesterday.

“When people want to put you down, they try by all means to make sure that they bring you down. I was just a sacrificial lamb because I was not the main target. I was just a person between them and her (Ngobeni). I was loyal to the commissioner and she was doing the work properly.

“They wanted to get to her and I was standing in their way, thus they had to take me out,” said Mdunge.

In 2012, there was an investigation done in the SAPS to verify Grade 12 certificates and Mdunge’s name was among the list of questionable qualifications. “If the list did not focus on Mdunge only, but everyone, why did they choose to focus on me only? I know the names of those people who were told quietly to resign at work and they did,” he said.

He said in defending his case he lost about R1.5 million and even though his former high school teacher came to testify that he was his pupil, that evidence did not help his case.

Mdunge said there were a number of instances that demonstrated that there was a plot against him.

“One day I went to collect my car from the service, I got a tip from one police officer that I must not collect the car because drugs had been planted inside it. I called the dog unit to check the car and indeed, one kilogram of rock cocaine was found in my car. The police cleared my name and I took my car,” he said.

“After getting the promotion, there was a person who wanted another

person in the position. People died due to that controversy and my appointment. The system needs to look closer at the dirt inside the SAPS to prevent similar issues.”

Mdunge described life in prison as hard, and said he was grateful that he got to experience life behind bars.

He said he had “lost a lot of things” while he was in prison.

“Two years is a very long time. I have a family and grandchildren. When you hear your grandchild saying ‘Grandfather, I saw you in the paper wearing a prison uniform, are you a criminal?’ that is the most

painful thing that goes straight to the heart.”

Mdunge said even though he had a criminal record, he was not a criminal.

The Mercury

• Former KZN top cop released on parole

• Convicted top cop Vincent Mdunge back in the dock

• Top cop Vincent Mdunge behind bars