School run crackdown: EMPD puts brakes on officials misusing municipal vehicles

The Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) recently laid down the law on some of their own, nabbing three municipal officials.

The officials were found using EMDP vehicles to run their own personal errands.

EMPD school run crackdown

According to EMPD spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Kelebogile Thepa, three municipal vehicles were seized from a high school in Benoni on Tuesday, 23 May 2023.

Thepa said City officials were using the vehicles to chauffeur their kids to school.

“The EMPD’s Security and Loss Control Unit, acting on a reliable tip-off about this misuse of resources, made a beeline for a Benoni high school,” said Thepa.

Recovered municipal vehicles

In the school parking lot, they discovered the vehicles:

• A marked BMW belonging to the EMPD.
• A marked Ford Ranger from the Disaster & Emergency Management Services Department (DEMS).
• An unmarked white Ford Ranger from the Parks Department.

The arrested officials now face internal investigations. Thepa emphasised, “Council resources are for public service, not personal use. We urge all to respect this”.

This isn’t the first time officials had their assets seized.

Municipal vehicle of pleasure

Back in 2022, a police sergeant from Alexandra station in Gauteng faced severe condemnation for being found intoxicated in a marked state vehicle in Limpopo, with a woman by his side.

“He’d taken the vehicle without permission and had driven to another province,” shared the Gauteng Saps.

They’ve urged community members to report any misuse of police vehicles or misconduct by police officials.

Eskom funds misused

In an unrelated incident, Eskom employees stationed at Tutuka Power Station were arrested after spending R940 000 on a shipping container estimated to be worth R20 000.

The plant’s procurement officer, Zandile Rosemary Ngcobo, appeared before the Standerton Magistrate Court on the same day and was granted bail of R5 000.

READ: Eskom won’t buy spares to fix units, says union official