By Buziwe Nocuze
A 28-year-old constable from the Vredenburg police in the Western Cape has been arrested after allegedly asking for R85 to help a citizen who wanted to apply for a police clearance certificate.
Western Cape SAPS spokesperson Captain Frederick Van Wyk said corruption in police ranks will not be tolerated because it undermines the rule of law and erodes the trust between the police and the public.
Van Wyk said the SAPS’s provincial anti-corruption unit is investigating the matter.
The constable has been detained and was due to appear in the Vredenburg Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, 26 June, to face the charges.
A police clearance certificate is an official document issued by the SAPS stating whether or not any criminal convictions have been recorded against an individual.
A resident said it was no surprise that the constable was arrested because many police officers are corrupt and often escape justice.
Despite police asking the public to report corrupt officers, she said it doesn’t help.
The resident said: “If reporting corrupt officers was working or bringing changes, we wouldn’t continue to have these kinds of cases from the officers. They keep breaking the law because they know they will get away with it.”
Nombeko Mbeka, a 27-year-old resident, said police officers should receive harsher sentences than others who break the law.
She said they are supposed to protect communities, not steal from them. Police officers who commit crimes show a lack of respect for people, the country and their jobs, she addded.
Pictured above: Police.
Source: File
