Metro cops face criminal case
Thursday, 19/07/2012 - 16:44
A
ccording to the
City of Joburg, the anti-corruption hotline has registered about 160 complaints
since 23 April.The internal investigation into the six Johannesburg metro police
officials who were involved in the April assault of two Ivory Park residents
has been concluded, the City of Johannesburg has said.
The city has confirmed that the six
officials are now facing a criminal case for the assault of Andries Ndlovu and
Joseph Khumalo, and the investigation is being handled by the Independent
Police Investigations Directorate (IPID).
The internal department investigation
had been concluded and was pending prosecution. Judgement would be announced
soon after case adjudicators had converged, said city spokesperson Gabu
Tugwana.
Following media reports about the
incident, which took place on uMnotho Street in Ivory Park on 20 April, the six
cops were identified and taken off
the streets. They were stripped off their
uniforms and an internal investigation was undertaken.
Ndlovu and Khumalo are hawkers. They
were assaulted by the metro cops just days after Corruption Watch released a
damning report on corruption in the Johannesburg Metro Police Department
(JMPD).
The six officers were carrying out
administrative duties throughout the investigation, and Tugwana confirmed that
they would continue to receive salaries until the outcome of the case. “The
Labour Relations Act is very clear about such matters: an employer may not stop
salary payment of an employee whose case is still not finalised and the guilty
verdict pronounced.”
In the case of a female JMPD officer
who was arrested for soliciting a R1 000 bribe from a Zimbabwean official,
Lennon Kheswa, in April, Tugwana said the matter had been put on hold after
Kheswa returned to Zimbabwe. He had work obligations and could no longer stay
in South Africa.
“The case has been temporarily closed
as undetected until the complainant can return to South Africa for the case to
be opened provided that the required information is sufficient to prosecute the
perpetrator,” said Tugwana.
The officer concerned is still
performing her duties in a non-uniform environment.
Positive response to hotline
A few weeks ago, on 29 June,
Corruption Watch made the City of
Joburg its “zero of the week” for failing to respond to its
recommendations on the JMPD report. Khanya Umlaw of the city manager’s office responded
to Corruption Watch, saying the city would soon announce
a number of important steps to address bribery and corruption in the
department.
On Monday, 23 April, the day
Corruption Watch released its JMPD report, the city issued a press release
welcoming the report. It urged people to report corruption and other wrongful
acts on its 24-hour hotline, 0800 213 712.
The hotline number has been displayed
throughout the media and was also published on Corruption Watch’s website
homepage. It has also been linked to the cellphone of the chief of operations
to ensure a 24/7 service.
The city has told Corruption Watch
that it has received a positive response from the public since introducing the
hotline. The number of complaints received varied from day to day, and about
160 complaints had been received since 23 April, said Tugwana.
Once a complaint has been received
and the accuracy of the information has been confirmed, the matter is
registered, investigated and a recommendation is made to indicate if there is a
prima facia case or not. Where there is not sufficient evidence, the matter is
captured by email for follow-up.
Out of the 160 calls received since
23 April, only 18 actual cases were opened. “The remainder of calls received
were of such a nature that they could not be pursued,” said Tugwana. “They
[complainants] were either not willing to testify or wanted to remain
anonymous.”
During this period, three cases of
extortion, bribery and corruption were investigated. Two officers were
dismissed for bribery and corruption that took place before 23 April, said Tugwana.
One officer was charged with bribery
and corruption for receiving R50 as a bribe for not issuing a fine to a driver.
The second officer, a cashier, was charged with fraud and corruption for taking
cash and replacing it with a fraudulent cheque. Both officers were found guilty
and were dismissed.
Every case would be dealt with in
terms of the disciplinary code and collective agreement, which stipulated that
disciplinary procedures should be finalised within a period of 90 days, but,
Tugwana said, the city endeavoured to finalise the cases before that time and
inform the public thereafter.
