Eastern Cape cop back at work after pleading guilty to armed robbery, 12 more still on duty despite criminal records
A police officer who was working in the child protection unit at the Mount Road Police station in Nelson Mandela Bay has been reinstated, although redeployed to a different police station, after pleading guilty on charges of armed robbery during a disciplinary hearing.
This was confirmed by Eastern Cape MEC for Community Safety, Xolile Nqatha, in a written reply to the provincial legislature.
Nqatha said the docket for the armed robbery case was opened in Stormsriver and that the criminal matter is still ongoing.
He also confirmed that 12 police officers with criminal convictions are currently serving in the South African Police Service (SAPS) in the province, and 217 cases involving police officers are under investigation.
Most of the convictions were for police officers helping prisoners escape.
The cases included:
A police officer at Mount Road SAPS was convicted of assault with the intent to do serious bodily harm. He has received a suspended sentence;
An officer in Kareedouw was found guilty of fraud and fined R12,000 in court, of which R6,000 was suspended;
An officer working at the Graaff Reinet SAPS was convicted of reckless and negligent driving and paid an admission-of-guilt fine;
Officers in Paterson, Tsolo and Kirkwood have all been convicted of helping prisoners escape and received prison sentences of between 6 months and a year; and
An officer in Mthatha paid an admission of guilt fine of R1,500 for fraud.
The Democratic Alliance's Yusuf Cassim criticised the fact that 12 police officers with criminal convictions, and hundreds more facing criminal charges, are still active members of the Eastern Cape SAPS.
'Not only have these officers broken the law they swore to uphold, they also violated the trust of the residents they serve, some going so far as putting criminal elements back on the street in a province where you are more likely to be raped or murdered than anywhere else in the country,' he said.
He said the officer from Mount Road SAPS accused of armed robbery had returned to duty this month, but was redeployed to Kinkelbos SAPS.
'The officer pleaded guilty in an internal disciplinary hearing to aggravated robbery, possession of stolen property and unlawful possession of a firearm, receiving a two-month suspension without pay. The criminal case against him remains ongoing.'
He said the officer's disciplinary hearing was chaired by a captain despite the SAPS Discipline Regulations of 2016 requiring that an officer with the rank of brigadier or higher must chair the case.
'This breach raises serious questions about other disciplinary cases that have allowed convicted criminals to remain in positions where they are supposed to enforce the very laws they have been found guilty of breaking,' he said.
'Were their disciplinary hearings also chaired by junior officers? Were proper procedures followed before allowing these criminals to remain in the service? Who authorised these outcomes?' he asked.
'I will be writing to the National Commissioner to request a comprehensive review of all SAPS members with criminal convictions or pending criminal charges in the Eastern Cape, including an examination of the disciplinary processes followed in each case and whether these processes complied with national regulations,' he said.
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