FRAUD accused Deputy Chief Traffic Officer for Melmoth Municipality, Thokozani Dladla is in the spotlight once again after he was involved in what appears to be a spot of fisticuffs with two police officers.
KZN SAPS spokesperson Major Thulani Zwane confirmed that in the early hours of Saturday morning, Melmoth SAPS officers stopped a vehicle in which Dladla was a passenger.
‘The driver of the vehicle was driving recklessly and when SAPS officers attempted to arrest the driver, a confrontation took place between them and Dladla,’ he said.
‘Both parties opened assault cases and a crimen injuria case was also opened by the police officers. No one has been arrested at this stage as the case is still under investigation.’
Tall tales?
Dladla maintains he was assaulted by one of the officers, sworn at and placed in handcuffs.
He claims two marked police vehicles followed him and his friends from a garage near his home, where they had waited for them to leave.
‘They stopped behind us as we pulled into my driveway.’
An altercation ensued, with both parties placing the blame in the other’s court for the cause of the fight.
‘One of the officers said, ‘You and your chief think you are so clever, we will show you’.
‘They hit me on the left side of my head on the ear a few times. I was sworn at and handcuffed,’ claimed Dladla.
The handcuffs were later removed and he went inside his home to sleep.
‘I honestly think this happened because they know me,’ he said.
He said he had been admitted to Netcare The Bay Hospital on Tuesday to see an ear, nose and throat specialist, who informed him his eardrum had sustained damage.
Dladla and another traffic officer, Sakhile Mandlenkosi Mthabela (33), are both out on bail after being arrested by the Hawks in August on charges relating to fraud.
They were caught allegedly soliciting a bribe from a truck driver.
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