Metro cops face criminal case
Thursday, 19/07/2012 - 16:44
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.
