By Everson Luhanga
Alexandra police officials are concerned at the number of officers using their police vehicles for unauthorised trysts with their lovers.
On Sunday, Limpopo police were called to come and seize a marked police car, only to find a snoozing officer inside – drunk and in the company of a woman!
After rousing him, the investigating cops soon learned that the party animal policeman’s illegal booze cruise had begun all the way back in Alexandra.
The 36-year-old sergeant was arrested and charged with using a motor vehicle without the owner’s consent and will appear in court in the coming days.
Gauteng provincial police spokesperson Colonel Dimakatso Sello confirmed the incident.
“The management of SAPS in Gauteng province has condemned in the strongest possible terms the incident whereby a member of Alexandra police station was found intoxicated inside a marked state vehicle in Limpopo province on 03 July 2022,” she said.
Sello said preliminary investigations revealed that the member utilised the station’s vehicle without authority to travel to another province.
But this is not an isolated case of a cop misusing state vehicles.
Scrolla.Africa has been reliably informed by senior police officers at the station that some cops have been misusing state resources to visit their girlfriends and make other personal trips, leaving the station with a shortage of vehicles.
One source told our team that in March this year, a police van belonging to Alexandra SAPS was burned down during an illicit visit by a police officer to his girlfriend in Soweto.
The officer in question was meant to be working at Alexandra Court that day.
Scrolla.Africa understands that the vehicle was set alight by another of the girlfriend’s boyfriends.
In another incident in May a police officer from the station took a state vehicle to George Goch police barracks and parked it.
In the morning the vehicle was nowhere to be found; it had apparently been stolen.
“But on the same day, police officers from Pretoria found the vehicle with a suspect who is believed to be the son of another police officer.
“The alleged driver was drunk with his friends. He was detained for being in possession of a state vehicle while he was not a police officer.”
Colonel Sello confirmed both incidents. “With regard to the incident of March 2022, both criminal and departmental cases against the member are still under investigation.
“In the other incident of May 2022, the member had the authority to utilise the vehicle when it was stolen from his premises.
“The suspect has since been arrested for theft of the motor vehicle.”
Colonel Sello said no member of the service is allowed to misuse or abuse state resources which are meant to serve the public.
Members of the public are urged to report any misuse of state resources and misconduct of police officials at any police station or at the Gauteng Complaints Service Centre on 082 442 2000 or the National Service Complaints Call Centre on 0800 333 177.
This article was first published by Scrolla.Africa
