Two KZN police officers reprimanded after incident at voting station

Two police officers have been removed from elections deployment and face disciplinaries after video footage emerged of them at a voting station while one was wearing party regalia, police revealed Tuesday.

The Provincial Commissioner of KwaZulu-Natal Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi has directed that immediate disciplinary steps be taken against the two officers who were seen infringing the police’s code of conduct and bringing the image of the South African Police Service (Saps) into disrepute.

ALSO READ: ‘Our storage facilities were never intended to deal with a mob’ – IEC on MK party ‘vote rigging’ claims

In the video, a police officer in uniform, driving a state vehicle belonging to Sundumbili Police Station can be seen picking up an off-duty police officer at a voting station. The off-duty police officer in the video can be seen wearing regalia of a political party.

‘Unbecoming behaviour’

The Provincial Commissioner ordered that the two officers must be removed from the elections deployment with immediate effect.

He said that police officers must be professional at all times and respect the oath which they took when they joined the police.

Mkhwanazi said the disciplinary steps would be proportional to their “unbecoming behaviour”.

“In more than one occasion I reiterated to the members of the Saps here in KwaZulu-Natal that they should be apolitical and leave politics to politicians,” he said.

“I emphasised the fact that police officers must never campaign or be seen to be campaigning for any political party.

ALSO READ: MK party wants Ramaphosa jailed for ‘abusing office for political gain’

“What these police officers did is totally unacceptable and such behaviour undermines the hard work that the police have been doing to create a safe and secure environment for the 2024 national and provincial Elections.”

A statement from the commissioner’s office reminded police officers that they must treat all political parties equally and with respect.

Political parties and community members are also encouraged to report any wrongdoing by the members of the police.

“No one is above the law and police officers who are found to be on the wrong side of the law will dance to the tunes of their unbecoming actions,” the statement read.