Police corruption can be nipped in the bud if the public stop offering officers bribes, the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) said on Wednesday.
Popcru was responding to an exposé of Booysens police taking bribes to release illegal immigrants on the South African Broadcasting Corporation’s (SABC) Special Assignment on Tuesday night.
Popcru voiced concern at their conduct, saying it has to be probed and that those found guilty have to be ”booted out” of the South African Police Service.
The Mail & Guardian Online confirmed on Wednesday, two days after police management was alerted to the scandal, that the seven police officers in question were still on the beat.
Amid public outrage at the goings on at Booysens police station in Johannesburg, other victims came forward on Wednesday with stories of alleged police corruption.
A Zimbabwean woman working as a domestic worker in Johannesburg told the South African Press Association she had to pay a bribe while being at held at the Lindela Repatriation Centre for illegal immigrants.
”When I was at Lindela, an immigrations officer told us that if we have an ID book then we can pay R300 and they will let us out. If you don’t have an ID, they want R500 or R1 000. It depends,” she said.
The immigration officer on duty at Lindela took the woman’s identity document, which she said she acquired legally, and told her to collect it in 21 days.
”When I went back to collect it I phoned the man, but he did not come outside. I had to apply for a new one,” she said.
A Malawian working as a gardener in Johannesburg’s northern suburbs paid a R500 bribe to a police officer after he was arrested for being an illegal immigrant.
”The first time I paid the police R500 and they released me,” he said.
The next time he was arrested, he had to pay someone at Lindela.
Video footage not enough
The television footage showing police taking bribes to free illegal immigrants is, on its own, ”insufficient” to secure their successful prosecution, Gauteng police Commissioner Perumal Naidoo said.
Breaking his silence for the first time since viewing the footage aired on Special Assignment, Naidoo said he has instituted disciplinary and criminal investigations into the alleged corruption.
He reportedly stormed out of the SABC studios in outrage after viewing the tape showing police at Booysens police station, Johannesburg, receiving money in exchange for freeing detained illegal immigrants.
The investigations will be conducted by ”a very senior police officer” in line with the severity with which the South African Police Service management view the allegations, said Naidoo.
”Due process must be followed and at this stage the visuals alone, in my opinion, [are] insufficient to secure a successful prosecution.”
Naidoo said that while it is important to take swift action, it is equally important to ensure a thorough investigation is conducted ”to substantiate the allegations in order to secure a conviction in a court of law”.
Asked whether there will be a nationwide probe into police corruption, national police spokesperson Director Phuti Setati earlier on Wednesday said a proper investigation into the alleged corruption at Booysens will dictate what action should be taken.
Concluding that extortion is happening everywhere is dangerous, misleading and will create ”the wrong perception altogether”, he said.
Setati appealed to the public to help eradicate corruption as it happens, instead of waiting for television exposés.
”It is high time people stand up and say, ‘If I see something wrong happening, I must alert the police’ so we can attend to it swiftly,” said Setati.
Even vulnerable people, such as illegal immigrants, can report corruption through Crime Stop on 08600 10111. The police will ensure they do not endanger the lives of people who give them information, he said.
Call for probe
The Democratic Alliance has called for a probe into crooked officers in Gauteng, and the immediate suspension of the implicated Booysens officers and their station commissioner.
DA safety spokesperson John Moodey said reports abound of police targeting immigrants, both legal and illegal, to extort bribes.
”With this new evidence before us [Gauteng police Commissioner Naidoo] can no longer keep quiet or hope that it will go away. Neither should he confine his action to those officers caught on camera.
”He should launch an immediate and sweeping investigation of possible bribery by cops across Gauteng. Only then can the public be assured that we are guarded by the good guys rather than by crooks,” Moodey said.
The DA criticised Naidoo for keeping quiet about the Special Assignment show, after viewing the tape.
He needs to act and the public need to see that he is acting, said Moodey.
”The subject is now in the public domain and the investigations cannot happen behind closed doors. Naidoo must start to rebuild confidence in the South African Police Service in Gauteng.” — Sapa