Kimberley - Three Roodepan police officers were arrested last night on charges of robbery, extortion and trespassing after they allegedly robbed a foreign national’s tuck-shop on Saturday afternoon.
It is alleged that two police officers and one reservist robbed Jabulani Tuck-Shop in Roodepan while in uniform, using a police vehicle and with several onlookers witnessing the event in broad daylight.
Police spokeswoman, Brigadier Masebueng Mochologi-Maleeme, said on Monday that the actions of the suspects were shameful and the South African Police Service (SAPS) was taking a hard line against police officers who abuse their positions by extorting money from members of the public and contributing towards crime and corruption in the country.
“Three suspects were arrested when they arrived for duty at the Roodepan Police Station,” she said.
“They were taken home to change out of their uniforms and an identity parade will take place tomorrow (today).”
The three may not be identified until their first court appearance at the Galeshewe Magistrate’s Court on Thursday and hid their faces while being taken to the cells at the Galeshewe Police Station last night.
Mochologi-Maleeme said the investigation would continue but no link to xenophobia could be made at this stage.
“These actions are disgusting. These are the people who are meant to be fighting crime. We are following up on numerous leads, which may see more arrests taking place. However, we cannot connect the incident to xenophobia at this stage. This appears to have been a random criminal act.”
The national spokesman for the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID), Moses Dlamini, said on Monday the matter was being investigated by the SAPS because it fell outside the mandate of the IPID.
He explained that police officials being accused of criminal offences did not automatically fall under the jurisdiction of the IPID because the IPID investigated mostly violent offences involving police officers.
These include suspects dying in custody or as a result of police actions, discharging of a firearm, rape involving officers as well as accusations of torture or assault in the line of duty.
According to its website, the IPID may also investigate cases of corruption or other charges if initiated by the executive directorate or after a complaint from a member of the public, minister, MEC or Secretary of Police.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance has expressed outrage at the alleged criminality of the three members of the Roodepan SAPS.
“It is disturbing that police officers, who are expected to play a leading role in upholding the law and mandated to protect citizens against criminal activities, are the very same ones who are the perpetrators,” said Pule Thole, the DA MPL in the Northern Cape Provincial Legislature, in a statement issued by the party on Monday.
“Given the recent acts of violence against foreign nationals in some parts of Gauteng, we cannot afford a repeat in the Northern Cape least of all from the men and women in blue. We condemn these criminal activities by the police in the strongest possible sense.
“It does not help either that a preliminary research report by the South African Institute for Race Relations into the extent to which police officers are involved in planning and executing serious and violent crimes, indicates that there has not been any decline or change in the last four years,” he added.
Several other allegations and cases have been made against members of the Roodepan SAPS, the latest of which was made on Monday afternoon after it is believed that members of the Roodepan SAPS were allegedly involved in a housebreaking on Sunday night.
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