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| 'We will make sure they pay for their act' |
| May 25 2006 at 11:11AM |
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By Alex Eliseev
They will appear again on June 5. The men are suspected of being involved in filming the Eldorado Park teenager, distributing the footage and placing it on the Internet. Continues Below ↓ The footage, which was captured in February, took place when the men were off duty. It was played in the girl's school playground, and showed her wearing her uniform and a police cap before she had sex with several men. It was reported that the 16-year-old girl may have been drugged before she had sex with the men.
The teenager is in police custody. The Johannesburg metro police department (JMPD) announced on Wednesday that Dooms and De Vos had been suspended and would appear at a disciplinary hearing. The men were also ordered to hand over their badges, guns and appointment cards. They were also forbidden to wear their uniforms. Both had completed their basic training and qualified as JMPD officers in June last year. They were selected from a large group of applicants and were promising police officers. Their training course included community policing and ethics. JMPD Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar said: "We are very disappointed at this horrible incident. We are taking this extremely seriously. We owe it to the girl and her family. "They have brought the image of the JMPD into disrepute, which is what they have been charged with," Minnaar said. "We are supposed to go out and protect teenagers. We expect them to see us and run to us for help." Minnaar said a date for the disciplinary hearing had not been set, but it would take place soon. The JMPD was waiting to receive the cellphone footage from the police. "The department will make sure the officers will pay for their act," he added. Police spokesperson Senior Superintendent Mary Martins-Engelbrecht said the authorities were looking for another man, who was on the run. Meanwhile, Inspector Edna Mamonyane revealed that the JMPD's internal affairs unit had investigated 33 corruption cases since last year. Some of the officers had issued fraudulent driving licences, taken bribes from drunk drivers or helped to register stolen vehicles. Another officer was sentenced to three years for "stealing impounded clothing from JMPD storage" and being in possession of an unlicensed firearm. "We will not tolerate any form of corruption," Mamonyane stated. "We are appealing to all members of the community to come forward and report it." Another case, which has yet to be finalised, involves a police officer who received traffic fine payments but, instead of banking them, embezzled the money. On the call for the resignation of JMPD chief Chris Ngcobo, Mamonyane said the Joburg city manager would have to rule on the matter. Ngcobo's contract expired in March but he has been asked to stay on until the end of June. "It's not up to us, but up to the City of Johannesburg." Dismantling, or outsourcing, the internal affairs unit was out of the question, Mamonyane said. Recently The Star revealed that one in 15 drivers, out on the roads after dark, were under the influence of alcohol. The conviction rate, Arrive Alive says, is less than that of rape - which is nine percent. But Mamonyane said: "The officers are doing the best they can." She said that because of backlogs in laboratories and poor prosecutions, the conviction rate encouraged drunken drivers to take chances. JMPD officers have been accused of failing to take suspects for a blood test within the legal two hours, and of bungling investigations. But Mamonyane argued that some officers were demoralised because other role-players had let them down. "In a roadblock in Hillbrow over the weekend, which lasted just two hours, we arrested 59 people," she said. "If only the 59 were convicted, people would start thinking before drinking and driving." Mamonyane dealt with the controversial arresting of motorists with outstanding warrants of arrest. "Section 45 of the Criminal Procedure Act states that an electronic copy of a warrant of arrest is enough," she said. "But if people want to see it in black and white, officers can print them a copy." People had argued that officers had to produce the original warrant of arrest, but this was a common misconception, Mamonyane said. The JMPD currently has 1 900 officers. The department has 2 600 employees in total. To report corruption to the JMPD, phone 0800 203 712.
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