Johannesburg - The Democratic Alliance has welcomed the rebirth of the anti-corruption unit within the SA Police Service (SAPS).
“The SAPS must once again take a zero tolerance approach to corruption within the service and we trust this unit will go a long way to achieving that,” DA MP Dianne Kohler-Barnard said on Friday.
National police commissioner Riah Phiyega launched an anti-corruption unit on Thursday.
The unit was expected to start operating during the current financial year.
“If we are to successfully fight crime in the country, we must first get our house in order. We will therefore not shy away from taking action against our own,” Phiyega said.
Kohler-Barnard said disgraced former national police commissioner Jackie Selebi closed down the unit in 2002.
“This should never have been allowed to happen in the first place, and since then corruption and criminality have flourished within the SAPS,” she said.
A study by Transparency International found that 83 percent of South Africans polled thought police were corrupt. - Sapa