Officers caught using a police van with sirens for a pupil’s matric dance in Estcourt face suspension and disciplinary action.
KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) police officers who were caught on video using a police vehicle to transport a pupil to a matric dance are facing suspension and disciplinary action.
The provincial commissioner of KZN, Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, has directed that the police officers who were seen driving a police van to a matric dance in Estcourt be temporarily removed from operations pending an internal investigation into their conduct.
Police said the officers were on duty when they transported a colleague’s child to a matric dance.
Officers escorted colleague’s child to matric dance
A video of the incident has gone viral on various social media platforms.
In the video, the police van has sirens and lights on, and upon stopping, a police officer walks out of the police vehicle with a firearm. The video then cuts to the officers escorting the pupils to a red carpet as other people cheer.
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Watch the video here:
By doing so, the officers neglected their core duties of ensuring police visibility, responding to complaints, and keeping residents safe, the police said.
“I have instructed the District Commissioner of uThukela to ensure that the immediate commander of the officers involved must take urgent disciplinary steps against them,” Mkhwanazi said.
‘Unauthorised activity’
“We cannot afford to have police officers who report for duty but use state resources for their personal gain.”
The provincial commissioner has also instructed the South African Police Service (Saps) finance and supply chain management officers to determine the financial loss the state could have suffered by that “unauthorised activity”.
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Mkhwanazi added that the state should recover the petrol, time, and vehicle costs from the members involved in the incident.
“Communities always complain that when they call police stations, they are told that there are no vans, whilst police officers are gallivanting with state resources that are meant to serve the communities,” he said.
Police officers have been reminded to be professional at all times and protect the image of the Saps.
State resources, including petrol and vehicle costs, to be claimed
Anyone discovered to be abusing cars, stationery, or any other state property will face the wrath of internal police disciplinary procedures, a criminal charge, and possibly even termination, the authorities said.
“The limited state resources should only be used for authorised official duties.”
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