Toddler threat: Police officers held

Published Jan 28, 2015

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Pretoria - Little Veronique always whispers, “Ek is lief vir jou” (I love you) to her parents before she goes to bed.

But on Monday night, the 3-year-old asked, “Pappa, sal die polisie kom en my skiet?” (Dad, will the police come and shoot me?)

Veronique spent the night in her parents’ bed at their Kirkney, Pretoria West, home.

The little girl was repeating the threat allegedly directed at her by a Tshwane Metro Police officer who had roughed up her mother before allegedly taking money from her car on the R80 Mabopane highway on Monday at about 6pm.

 

 

Two metro police officers are expected to appear in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court on Wednesday in connection, Gauteng police said.

The pair, aged 35 and 39, faced charges of attempted murder, corruption and armed robbery, Lt-Gen Solomon Makgale said.

The Justice Project SA (JPSA) and Crimeline said in a joint statement on Tuesday: “The crimes that these officers are alleged to have committed are very serious indeed and should be treated as such.”

On Tuesday, Veronique’s mother, Magda Robbertse, said their church leader spoke to the child and she appeared to be better.

Veronique and her baby brother Ricardo did not go to school following the ordeal.

When the Pretoria News visited the family, she was with her grandmother, Linda Robbertse, playing with their dogs.

Minutes later she jumped on to her mother’s lap and they embraced as they recalled the incident – another scandal to hit the Tshwane Metro Police Department in just a month – while investigators from the city’s by-law enforcement unit and the police were in the living room speaking to witnesses.

Robbertse relived their ordeal after the two metro police officers stopped her. Her seatbelt was not fastened. “They asked for my licence. I pointed out I was driving without one and without my safety belt on. I agreed to both charges.”

Instead of giving her a fine, one of the officers asked for a bribe, she claimed. “Irritated, I told him it was not month-end and no one had money at this time of the month.

“He ordered me to open my handbag, which I did, but he did not take anything from it.”

She said Veronique, who was in the front passenger seat, became hysterical when the officer pounced on her mother who had refused to give him “something for a cool drink”.

What followed was a moment Robbertse said she would never forget. “The officer put his hand on his service firearm, looked at the child and said ‘Bly stil of ek gaan jou skiet’ (Shut up or I’m going to shoot you).

“He pushed me against the seat, leapt into the car and grabbed an ashtray with R50 and R10 notes and some coins.”

Veronique’s baby brother Ricardo was in the baby seat at the back of the family’s Hyundai Atos.

Robbertse, who does not have a driving licence, had collected the two children from school in Daspoort and was heading home.

“I do not normally drive. My husband Leroy fetches the children from school. However, he was tied up at work and I had no choice as they had to be fetched before 5pm.”

Robbertse said with or without a driving licence, she would never stop for a police officer again.

“I will switch on the emergency lights and drive to the nearest police station. They cannot just ask for money which people work hard for. It’s really sad because there are good police officers out there.”

When she arrived home, she spoke to her mother-in-law and father Ernie Prinsloo and they all went to the scene.

The two officers jumped into their marked municipal car and fled the moment they saw them.

The family chased after them and forced them to pull off the road.

Prinsloo said the officers were very aggressive, especially after seeing him taking photos of their car and registration numbers. “They tried to confiscate my phone and took down the registration number of our car. They threatened to deal with us,” he said.

Crimeline and the Justice Project urged motorists to refrain from paying bribes to police officers and to report any officer who tried to solicit a bribe from them.

“The severest sentences should be handed down by the courts when law enforcement officers are convicted of extortion and/or corruption. The same should apply to motorists who think that it is okay to bribe traffic officials.”

JPSA chairman Howard Dembovsky said “urgent interventions” were required to clamp down on corrupt metro police officers. We are very concerned. We need decisive action by municipalities and law enforcement agencies.”

Crime Line head Yusuf Abramjee applauded the police for their swift action on arresting the officers.

“We need to get the rotten metro cops behind bars,” he said. “We appeal to the public to blow the whistle on these crooked cops.”

* Misconduct by Tshwane Metro Police officers can be reported on 082 891 8625.

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Pretoria News and Sapa

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