Police Academy South Africa...

Picture this: a police car races a pet to the vet, another is spirited off to a chop shop, hungover recruits are klapped on the parade field, the tuck shop staff are accused of cooking the books and porn is discovered on the boss's computer.

These are not scenes from the '80s film Police Academy, which featured a motley crew of wayward cadets.

Rather, they have been described by two unions in a letter sent to the national commissioner of police, General Bheki Cele, rubbishing the management of a training college in Cape Town.

The Bishop Lavis Training Institution in the Cape Flats, one of three police teaching facilities in the Western Cape, is responsible for providing basic grounding to 500 new recruits annually.

Students live at the academy, tucked away between the Bishop Lavis Police Station and a local magistrate's court, during six months of training.

The letter sent to Cele, dated November 2010, was signed by two members of police unions Popcru and Sapu. They bemoan alleged rampant "corruption and nepotism" at the academy and call for management to be sacked.

Several incidents at the academy were cited in the letter, including:

• A sick cat being rushed to a vet in a police car on the instructions of a colonel;
• An officer covering up an accident by sending a damaged police vehicle to be repaired at a "chop shop" to avoid having to report the incident;
• An officer regularly sending a police vehicle to take his mother's medicine to her;
• Managers and certain staff getting free tea and coffee and cooking themselves "special breakfasts";
• Top managers' relatives being hired to work in the mess and the finance office in violation of SAPS rules;
• The tuck shop, which is subsidised by taxpayers, failing to produce financial statements; and
• A senior officer living on the premises forcing maintenance staff to feed his dogs, mow his lawn and do odd jobs around his home.

The letter also claimed that state property such as laptops and cellphones often went missing and little was done to recover the items.

Furthermore, it addressed the mysterious case of a state-owned fridge and television found in the living quarters of a manager.

The letter did not mention several other problems at the academy. These included the saga of a senior officer who was investigated after pornography was discovered on his computer.

The compromising images were revealed during a raid on his office by the Crime Intelligence Unit late last year.

Assault charges were also laid against an angry commander by two recruits who were allegedly slapped on the parade field because they had appeared to be unsteady on their feet.

The pair had reported for the parade with hangovers after a weekend pass.

National police spokesman Colonel Vishnu Naidoo confirmed that Cele's office had received the complaints.

However, his only comment was that "a departmental investigation is under way".

The Popcru representative at the college, Warrant Officer Eric Daba, confirmed the letter was sent to Pretoria saying: "We are still waiting for feedback from the national office."

Ironically, the academy won the Institute of Sectoral and Occupational Excellence Award in 2009.

At a function to celebrate the honour, the Minister of Police, Nathi Mthethwa, said training was a priority. "Training is of paramount importance if we are to defeat this scourge of crime," he said.