Police `helped in car thefts'

A CONVICTED carjacker in South Africa is accusing police of having helped him to steal cars and of taking bribes.

Xolani Mlilwana, who is serving a 125-year sentence after pleading guilty in April to 11 counts of hijacking and to a charge of escaping from prison, said police escorted the stolen cars, arranged for false licence plates and assisted in jailbreaks, the Sunday Times of Johannesburg reported.

Sydney Mufamadi, Safety and Security Minister, is going to meet Mlilwana to hear his accusations, the newspaper said.

Mlilwana, 25, is the son of Police General Niki Mlilwana, the Assistant Commissioner of Police in Queenstown, Eastern Cape. "All I want is for Xolani to reveal all he knows, and at the end of the day the will of God will prevail," he said.

In an affidavit, Mlilwana has accused a police sergeant of taking a 10,000 rand (pounds 1,025)bribe to let him slip away from prison during an earlier arrest, before the April conviction.

Mlilwana alleges he also paid 10,000 rand to another police sergeant to steal his criminal files from police headquarters in Johannesburg.

A police spokesman confirmed that Mlilwana's allegations were being investigated.

AP - Johannesburg