Police boss is a liar - Popcru

Gauteng police commissioner Mzwandile Petros has been accused of lying to Minister of Police Nathi Mthethwa about the circumstances surrounding the fatal shooting of three police officers at the Rosebank police station earlier this month.

The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union wants Mthethwa and national police commissioner General Bheki Cele to suspend Petros and members of his provincial management team for lying "to the nation" about the events leading to police clerk David Kekana shooting station commander Lieutenant-Colonel Thandi Mkhize, 43, and Captain Neelavathie Naidu, 46, before turning the gun on himself.

Naidu died at the scene and Mkhize is still recovering in hospital.

On the day of the incident, Petros and Mthethwa visited the police station, with the emotional Mthethwa then saying: "[Kekana] had been taken through a disciplinary hearing for wrongdoing. He was found guilty [for mishandling firearms] and he was about to be dismissed."

Popcru's provincial secretary, Matsemela Matsemela, said although the union condemned Kekana's actions, it was "distasteful" that the provincial leadership chose to "present the public with distorted facts".

According to the union, Kekana was charged with and found guilty of fraud for using a colleague's phone pin code to make personal calls. He had appealed against the dismissal at the time of the incident, Matsemela said.

Kekana was said to have apologised to the police officer whose pin code he had used and paid the R475 bill.

Matsemela said on the day of the incident, Kekana had been instructed to go to the Johannesburg central office to collect a service pistol belonging to the Rosebank police station's inventory.

An exchange of words between Kekana and his two victims ensued, which led up to the shooting, Matsemela claimed.

He said Popcu would meet Petros today. "We are calling for the immediate suspension of those who misled the minister intentionally."

The union also denounced the circulation of the "barbaric, insensitive and un-African" video footage of a policewoman and a correctional services official having sex.

The policewoman was summarily dismissed, whereas the correctional services officer has been suspended.