Tshabalala has been dismissed on grounds that he was convicted of an offence and sentenced to imprisonment without the option of a fine.

PRETORIA - The South African Police Service (SAPS) have fired the crime intelligence operative recently arrested on charges of fraud and corruption.

Morris Tshabalala, known as "Captain KGB", was served with a dismissal notice on Friday, the same day he was denied bail in the Pretoria Commercial Crimes Court.

Police watchdog Ipid arrested Tshabalala two weeks ago when he reported to his parole officer in Pretoria.

Tshabalala’s notice of dismissal states that he is being fired because he was convicted of an offence and sentenced to a term of imprisonment without a the option of a fine.

The conviction referred to was one of armed robbery in 1996. Despite this, Tshabalala joined Crime Intelligence in about 2002, where he climbed the ranks to captain.

Only when he was arrested several years ago was it realised that he was a fugitive from justice and sent to prison.

Tshabalala remained on the police payroll throughout the two years in prison, and then reported for duty while on parole after only serving two years of the ten year sentence.

The police have not fully explained how Tshabalala was able to remain employed by the SAPS for so long.