Five shamed officers of the South African Police Service (SAPS) in Kenville, north of Durban, have been charged with theft, kidnapping and defeating the ends of justice.
According to police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbele, these unscrupulous officers thought it was wise to use their authority to manipulate the Covid-19 regulations on the sale of cigarettes.
SAPS officers accused of kidnapping, theft
An internal investigation led by a team of detectives from the provincial anti-corruption unit was launched after it was reported in June, that the officers had allegedly kidnapped a business owner.
In a statement, Col. Mbele revealed that the victim was allegedly kidnapped on Park Station Road, in Kenville, at approximately 11:15, on Youth Day.
What started out as a routine stop-and-search turned into a fullscale criminal act when the officers “took cash and cigarettes from his vehicle.”
“He was kidnapped and taken to his house where the suspects removed more cigarettes and cash,” Col. Mbele said.
To mask the alleged theft, the officers purported a file a charge for ‘violating Covid-19 regulations’. This docket, of course, never made it on the roll.
Acting swiftly, the victim filed a case against the five officers at the SAPS branch in Greenwood Park.
The matter was investigated and it was found that the officers didn’t “enter all the exhibits in the register.”
A repeat offence for one of the officers
With a watertight case, the matter was handed over to the State for prosecution and the five SAPS officers subsequently appeared before the Durban Specialised Commercial Crime Court, on Tuesday.
Four of the officers charged were granted R2 000 bail each. The fifth suspect was remanded in custody after it was discovered that he had already been charged with a similar offence and that case is still ongoing.
The matter will return to court on Tuesday 3 November 2020.
While provincial top-cop Lieutenant General Khombinkosi Jula didn’t address the shocking revelation about the fifth officer, he did wage war against the rotten apples of SA’s police force.
“We will make sure that we root-out all rotten apples hiding behind the SAPS badge whilst committing crimes,” he said.
