Corruption charges against Athlone SAPS officer raise alarm over police integrity

Another member of the South African Police Service (SAPS) stationed in Athlone is facing corruption charges after he allegedly helped a drug syndicate but remains on duty.

This is according to DA MP Nicholas Gotsell, who made the allegations in a video posted on social media on Friday following an oversight visit to Athlone SAPS.

In the video, Gotsell said a sergeant, who works as a court orderly at the Athlone Magistrate’s Court, had been charged with two counts of corruption.

“Cops helping drug syndicates while still wearing the SAPS uniform is a betrayal of every law-abiding resident in Athlone and surrounding communities,” Gotsell said.

According to Gotsell, the officer allegedly solicited money on January 12 to secure the quicker release of a detainee. He further alleged that the sergeant assisted an inmate in smuggling mandrax between Pollsmoor Correctional Centre and the Athlone court.

“Yet despite these serious allegations, he has not been suspended,” Gotsell said.

The allegations have not been independently verified by police.

The matter is separate from concerns Gotsell raised in Parliament last week regarding a different Athlone SAPS constable whose reported dismissal he said contradicted what he observed during an oversight visit.

Last week, Gotsell questioned a parliamentary reply indicating that a constable stationed at Athlone Police Station had been dismissed in December following disciplinary action. During a visit to the station earlier this month, however, he found the officer on duty in the charge office. Station management allegedly indicated that there was an active case against the constable, but that it had not yet been concluded.

Gotsell said he would be putting the latest allegations directly to Western Cape Provincial Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Thembisile Patekile when he appears before Parliament’s Select Committee on Security and Justice on Wednesday.

The issue forms part of broader scrutiny of SAPS’ disciplinary processes raised in Parliament in recent weeks.

At the time of publication, police had not responded to media enquiries. The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) said it required a case number before commenting further.

Last month, a viral video by Gotsell showed an armed police officer sleeping in a marked SAPS vehicle with flashing blue lights at a bus stop while his colleague shopped at Woolworths, prompting a disciplinary investigation.

Last month the Cape Argus reported that during a parliamentary question, Acting Minister of Police Firoz Cachalia admitted the SAPS disciplinary system  was "broken" after he was questioned about the lenient one-month suspension without pay given to two officers caught with a stolen patrol car filled with drugs and alcohol.

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Cape Argus