Picture: Screengrab from Twitter video
A policeman is in hot water after he was caught on camera using a police vehicle for his personal errand of buying bags of grain from a civilian. The video is making rounds on social media.
Police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said the behaviour of the police member is not condoned and an investigation has been launched.
The viral video on social media shows the sergeant buying grain from a civilian while he was on duty. The policeman opens the back of the police van and the civilian then loads the goods into the state vehicle. The sergeant can then be seen paying the man.
Mathe said the policeman belongs to the Durban Harbour division.
She said the police will decide what action to take against the sergeant once more information has been gathered and the investigation is complete.
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“The Saps views such action in a serious light and assures members of the public that resources such as state vehicles are there to ensure optimal running and functioning of the service and to service our communities,” said Mathe.
In October, Durban Harbour police officers made two major drug busts. Cocaine with a collective estimated street value of R150 million was confiscated.
In the first incident, members of the South African Police Force (Saps) attached to the Durban Harbour seized cocaine worth R80 million at a warehouse at the Dube Trade Port within the King Shaka International Airport.
The bust was made after police tracked a container with 228 blocks of cocaine concealed as meat boxes.
A few days later, cocaine worth around R70 million was found on a vessel from Brazil at the harbour.
Police revealed that the shipment of 200 blocks of raw cocaine were stashed inside 20-litre paint buckets.
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