Johannesburg - The South African Police Services has fired two officers who had falsely accused their white colleague of using the k-word on them.
Warrant officers Sedisa Tikoe, 50, and Chris Mphana, 46 – who were based at the Klerksdorp police station – were fired last week after the SAPS instituted an internal disciplinary hearing against them.
The disciplinary hearing followed a trial where a court found them guilty of perjury, defeating the ends of justice, assault and crimen injuria in November last year, and slapped them with a fine and suspended prison sentences.
Solidarity said it welcomes the dismissal of the two officers and that it was delighted with the verdict.
“For the SAPS, the verdict is a step in the right direction and indicates that offenders must bear the consequences of their actions. The message now being conveyed is loud and clear: Do not make false accusations of racism, do not make false affidavits about racism, and do not turn to violence and threats in the workplace,” said Solidarity’s Renate Barnard.
In 2017, Colonel Annemarie Oosthuizen started a disciplinary process against Tikoe and Mphana for failing to show up at work without permission or without taking leave.
However, former intern Elizabeth Sechele overheard them planning to falsely accuse Oosthuizen of using the k-word.
The two officers later accused Oosthuizen using the k-word then threatened her with violence.
Sechele then informed her father what had happened and he “encouraged her to do the right thing”.
Oosthuizen then later opened a case against the two and Sechele testified in court about what she had heard. Tikoe and Mphana were found guilty in November last year of perjury, defeating the ends of justice, assault and crimen injuria.
They were fined R60 000 or three years imprisonment for crimen injuria, of which R30 000 and 18 months were conditionally suspended for five years.
The state also requested that both of them be declared unfit to possess firearms.
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