Dozen corrupt cops get the chop after president's visit to KZN border posts

13 November 2017 - 14:08 By Bongani Mthethwa
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Acting provincial commissioner Major-General Bheki Langa welcomed the dismissal of the 12 officers and commended the role played by the community for raising the alarm and reporting them.
Acting provincial commissioner Major-General Bheki Langa welcomed the dismissal of the 12 officers and commended the role played by the community for raising the alarm and reporting them.
Image: Carlos Miguel Pereira Faria via Google photo

Twelve police officers who worked at border posts in the northern parts of KwaZulu-Natal have been dismissed following an internal investigation into corrupt activities.

KZN police spokesman Brigadier Jay Naicker said in a statement on Monday that the policemen were arrested early this year and were dismissed on Friday last week after an internal investigation.

The officers were bust for their corrupt activities at the Kosi Bay and Golela Border Posts. Their arrests followed a visit to Umkhanyakude by President Jacob Zuma to listen to the community’s concerns regarding crime and allegations of corruption involving police at the border.

Zuma visited the Emanguzi police station and the Kosi Bay Border Post in March where he and his delegation made observations after listening to the community and instructed police management for increased and focused crime fighting efforts in the area and border posts.

Naicker said a project coordinated by the office of the acting national police commissioner and acting provincial commissioner was established to deal with the challenges identified during Zuma’s visit.

“The project yielded positive results as a number of arrests were made and stolen vehicles were also recovered. It also emerged during these operations that some police officers at border posts were corrupt‚ which resulted in an undercover operation being instituted. These 12 officers were nabbed for corruption and charged criminally and internally‚” said Naicker.

Acting provincial commissioner Major-General Bheki Langa welcomed the dismissal of the 12 officers and commended the role played by the community for raising the alarm and reporting them.

“We want to reassure the public that we remain committed to dealing with corrupt police officers decisively‚” he said. The border town of Emanguzi in Umkhanyakude has been terrorised by brazen cross-border crime syndicates‚ mostly from Mozambique‚ with some crime lords even targeting vehicles in police compounds.

After his visit‚ Zuma gave an undertaking that government would take visible action to combat crime which had resulted in tension between South Africans and Mozambicans.

During his visit it had emerged that the local police station was "severely under-resourced" and Zuma was taken to the border between Mozambique and South Africa where he was shown how vehicles‚ especially 4x4s and SUVs‚ were driven into the neighbouring country. The president was also told that owners could apparently get their vehicles back if they paid up to R50‚000 to alleged Mozambican hijackers.

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