Dear Editor
The DA calls for an urgent, independent audit of all SAPS personnel serving in high-risk and sensitive positions, particularly those stationed in courts, correctional facilities, and specialised units such as anti-gang task teams.
This follows the alleged criminal conduct of a SAPS court orderly arrested in Kleinvlei – an area notorious for gang and drug activity – during a police operation on Saturday night. The officer was allegedly found in possession of 965 mandrax tablets, a bankie of tik, and a toy firearm.
This is not the officer’s first reported link to smuggling. While serving in the SAPS Metro K9 Unit, he was previously implicated in illicit activity. Despite this, SAPS leadership reassigned him to the Cape Town Magistrates’ Court, placing him in daily contact with detainees.
This gross lapse in judgment has further eroded trust in the justice system. In the midst of a relentless gang and drug war on the Cape Flats, such negligence allows criminal syndicates to exploit weaknesses across the police, courts, and correctional services with impunity.
This is not an isolated case. In recent weeks:
- A police officer in George was arrested after being caught with drugs;
- A Belhar officer was caught for possession of cocaine; and
- A Lentegeur police officer accused of smuggling drugs in a marked police vehicle with a Fancy Boys gang leader was initially fired for breaking the law, only to be quietly transferred to Dieprivier SAPS when Provincial Commissioner Lt Genl Thembisile Patekile overturned the dismissal.
These patterns point to a broader institutional rot. The DA has written to Lt Genl Patekile demanding an urgent explanation as to why, firstly, the SAPS member was allowed to continue in such a sensitive position despite credible red flags and, secondly, why he was not fired after the first incident.
The war on drugs demand ethical, credible policing.
Regards
Nicholas Gotsell MP
DA NCOP Member on Security & Justice