Mpumalanga police officers arrested for corruption should be fired if found guilty as they dented government’s efforts to fight crime, a provincial minister said on Tuesday.
”If we are serious about combating crime, we must root out corruption in the South African Police Service so that the people will have trust over the police,” community safety and security minister Sibongile Manana said in a statement.
This followed the suspension of seven officers for corruption in the province on Monday.
Six of them were arrested for allegedly accepting bribes from towing companies. The seventh was arrested for allegedly selling an impounded vehicle in Barberton, Captain Leonard Hlathi told Sapa on Monday.
One of the officers, Inspector Gerardus Glinister (38) from Lydenberg had already pleaded guilty to seven counts of corruption in court. He was subsequently sentenced to a fine of R20Â 000 or 12 months’ imprisonment.
Manana said corruption within the SAPS undermined people’s confidence in the authorities.
”The government has made serious strides in enhancing the relationship between the SAPS and the community over the last 15 years. We need to build on that and root out all corrupt elements within the police … because rotten police confuse the public.”
She said the amount of time and resources used to investigate corrupt officers could be spent on fighting crime. — Sapa