The South African
Police Service Management in the Eastern Cape has expressed shock and dismay at
the new information which came to light, implicating a 34-year-old police
constable in the alleged armed robbery and hijacking incident which occurred in
Dalasile, in the early hours of August 20, 2022, in Engcobo policing
precinct.
After these reports, police investigated
according to the information which was provided by the police officer who
purported to be a victim and survivor of the tragic incident.
On the day of the alleged incident, the
police officer’s version of events was that he had attended a complaint of a
person who was sexually assaulted.
He further stated that as he was driving back
from the medical institution where he had dropped the victim, he was accosted
by unidentified suspects. At gunpoint, the two suspect pulled him out and then
drove off in the police vehicle.
According to him, he escaped unharmed during
the ordeal and had managed to call for assistance from the police station.
He further claimed that he was immediately
rescued from the situation by his colleagues.
The police vehicle was later found abandoned
in the nearby Sigidi forest in the morning.
“As the investigation by SAPS detectives
unfolded, with searches being conducted for the alleged suspects in and around
the local villages, a new information came to light.”
“The information revealed that the police
officer’s earlier version of events was in fact untrue, and a well calculated
fabrication designed to mislead the SAPS and members of the community into
believing his falsehood whilst hiding his own acts of misconduct,” said
Eastern Cape police spokesperson Brigadier Tembinkosi Kinana.
“This disgraceful discovery revealed that
the police constable had misused the police vehicle to drive around with
friends in the local tavern. Him and his friends were captured in a circulating
video clip in social media platforms, carrying what looked like bottles of
liquor while alighting from the back of a marked police vehicle,” Kinana
added.
SAPS management has
immediately ordered for disciplinary steps be taken against the constable who
by his action has violated the SAPS code of conduct and injured the image of
the South African Police Service.
The Provincial
Commissioner, Lieutenant General Nomthetheleli Mene has further criticised the
alleged actions of the police officer and assured the members of the public
that those found to have brought the name of the SAPS into disrepute, will be
subjected to the disciplinary code of the organisation.
