Police attacked, vehicle torched by illegal drinkers in Muldersdrift

Police arrested the owner of an unlicensed liquor outlet in Muldersdrift in the West Rand on Saturday 3 April 2021, and confiscated an unknown value of liquor. The owner of the establishment will be charged with contravening the Gauteng Liquor Board legislation for trading in liquor without a licence, and contravening of the Disaster Management Act, COVID-19 level 1 lockdown regulations that prohibit the sale of alcohol after 23:00.

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The arrest follows after two police officers from Muldersdrift SAPS were attacked and a state vehicle allegedly torched by patrons who had been drinking at the outlet at around 2:30 on Saturday morning.

The two police officers were attending to a complaint of disturbance of public peace at Video informal settlement, Rietfontein when they were attacked by an aggressive group of people. They sought cover in a nearby shack as the group continued to pelt them with objects, allegedly threatening to kill the police members. The two members, with one of them injured, managed to escape out of the shack and realised that the group had allegedly torched the state vehicle.

Public Order Police arrived and managed to quell the situation.

The injured police officer was rushed to a nearby hospital in Krugersdorp where he was treated and discharged. No member of the public was injured during the incident.

A separate docket has been opened for investigation in relation to the attack on police members and malicious damage to property (torching of state vehicle).

The Acting Provincial Commissioner, Major General Tommy Mthombeni has condemned the incident.

“Our members who came under attack by this lawless group of people who are said to have been very aggressive, should actually be commended for sacrificing their safety and ensuring no member of the public got injured. They had the option to use their service firearms but instead used their discretion not to use those firearms, averting a possible bloodbath. Our Employee Health and Wellness teams must continue to give priority attention to these members to ensure their emotional and psychological recovery,” he said.

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