Dear Editor
A Warrant Officer at Lentegeur SAPS remains on duty after being convicted of multiple counts of fraud, and being found guilty in two internal disciplinary processes, because Provincial Commissioner Lt. Genl. Thembisile Patekile is dragging his feet in dismissing this crooked cop.
The DA calls on Commissioner Patekile to stop dragging his feet and to immediately confirm the dismissal of this Warrant Officer. Not another day must pass where a convicted crooked cop draws a cent of public money or wears the badge of a police officer.
The Warrant Officer was convicted on multiple counts of fraud; implicated in the alleged sale of police dockets and found guilty in at least two internal disciplinary processes.
Despite admitting guilt during one of the hearings, he continued to draw a salary and wear the blue uniform which has made a mockery of SAPS’s Code of Conduct and its supposed commitment to integrity.
It is alleged that this Warrant Officer was originally dismissed in his first disciplinary hearing, but that the sanction was overturned by Commissioner Patekile himself and then replaced with a mere two-month suspension.
It took a full year to communicate the outcome of that hearing to the Warrant Officer himself; and it appears on the face of it that SAPS leadership was scrambling to cover for the situation.
When he finally served his suspension, from March to May this year, the Warrant Officer was then caught driving under the influence of alcohol.
His disregard for the law is a direct consequence of the SAPS leadership not sending the right message in the first place, that breaking the law would not be tolerated.
After the first disciplinary, and serving a two-month suspension, the same Warrant Officer went through a second disciplinary hearing, following his conviction in the Wynberg Magistrates’ Court for fraud.
His second disciplinary hearing has again found him guilty. The latest guilty finding by a SAPS internal disciplinary process, under Regulation 5(3)(dd), imposed the only fitting sanction for an infringement of which dishonesty is an element: dismissal.
This finding was delivered on 30 June 2025 and the sanction signed on 18 July but acting on the sanction now sits on Patekile’s desk and he is dragging his feet, yet to act.
This cop should never have been allowed back into the SAPS after his first fraud conviction. That in itself is a scandal.
While Commissioner Patekile dithers over whether to keep a convicted fraudster in uniform, he continues to ignore the real needs of vulnerable communities. Instead of resourcing the SAPS, he is too busy shielding crooked cops.
Regards
Nicholas Gotsell MP
DA NCOP Member on Security & Justice