Top cop hauled over coals for lying in affidavit

A judge has criticised a police station commander for lying to him.

Judge Anton Steenkamp said Brigadier Lavona Januari‚ of Oudtshoorn‚ was dishonest in an affidavit she signed in a case brought by Sergeant Armand Grobler.

Grobler told the Labour Court in Cape Town that he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of an incident while he was on duty in 2014. He had been declared unfit to possess a firearm and assigned to administrative duties.

But in June‚ Januari transferred him to Oudtshoorn Magistrate’s Court‚ where police regulations require officers to “always be well armed”.

Januari ignored Grobler’s appeals through a social worker and his union‚ Solidarity‚ said Steenkamp‚ leaving him with no option other than an application for an urgent interdict to stop the transfer.

Steenkamp said Januari disregarded the collective agreement between the police and three trade unions. “That is unlawful. And her attempt to evade her obligations by alleging that she never received [Grobler’s representations] is based on a distortion of the truth.

"Sadly for a high-ranking SAPS officer‚ the ineluctable conclusion is that [Januari] did not‚ under oath‚ play open cards with the court."

The judge said Grobler must be allowed to continue his administrative duties in the Oudtshoorn charge office‚ and he interdicted the police from taking disciplinary steps against Grobler or withholding his salary.