A Mpumalanga police sergeant and four clerks have appeared in court for allegedly accepting payment from tow-truck companies in exchange for reporting accidents to them.

Sergeant Gert James (34) and four clerks at the Witbank police station, allegedly made an estimated R200 000 by reporting accidents to tow-truck companies before calling emergency services, Captain Leonard Hlathi said in a statement on Friday.

"This resulted in the towing services arriving first at accident scenes, and in loss of life."

The five appeared in the Middleburg Magistrate's Court on Thursday and were released on bail of R1000 each.

James and one of the clerks, Nelson Masilela, would appear in court again on 27 November.

The other clerk, Martin van Wyk, would appear again on 24 October; Freddy Magagula on 17 November and Bafana Thamane on 24 November.

Sapa