Driver spotted drinking and driving: Police do nothing
Westonaria police launches an investigation to why officers on duty ignore incident.
A concerned Westonaria resident wrote to the herald after she witnessed an injustice recently.
According to the resident, known only as Annemarie, she pulled into a Shell garage in Westonaria for some fuel. A Westonaria police van (Registration number: BTB667GP, Vehicle number: WT19) pulled into a parking in front of her.
“Right next to the van there was a car with very loud music playing. The occupants of the car along with its driver were drinking openly. I thought the police would at least warn the men about their behaviour but when the drinking driver got into the car with an open bottle of alcohol, and started his vehicle, the police did not react,” she said.
According to Annemarie the men drove off, with their radio blasting very loudly and shortly after the police van left too, with no intentions of arresting the men.
“It is against the law to even have passengers drinking in the vehicle, but this police officer saw the driver drinking and did absolutely nothing. What if the driver gets into an accident? Seriously, what are the police in Westonaria good for?” she said.
According to Col. RM Legodi from the Westonaria SAPS Station Commander’s office this sort of behaviour, or lack of rather, is not condoned by the police and they have launched into a full on Internal Department Investigation.
“We will first have to confirm who was in the vehicle at the time and if the officer was in fact on duty or busy with a shift change. We urge the community to come forward with complaints about the police so that we can operate with a level of transparency with the community,” Col Legodi said.
