The South African Police Service top management is appalled at the apparent “beating up” of people which was revealed on national television this past week.
The electronic media had broadcasted video clips of police officers beating up people, this is unacceptable. Such behaviour by police officers does not only bring the SAPS into disrepute, it also has the potential to negate the professional conduct and hard work done by the rest of our members.
“There is a clear distinction between a police officer acting lawfully and exceeding the boundaries of the law, we will not sit back and ignore unambiguous cases of our police officers taking the law into their own hands”, said Acting National Commissioner, Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.
No police officer has the right to assault another human being. Every policeman and woman must abide by the code of conduct of the police in which it is explicitly detailed how a member should execute his or her duties and this certainly does not include the assaulting of people. Therefore, police management will neither tolerate nor support any police officer that breaks the law.
We want to insistently state that our police officers are constantly reminded of the essence of respecting the rights of every individual and that the fundamental purpose of policing is, “to ensure that all people in South Africa are and feel safe”.
It is totally unacceptable that police officers, who are guided by a strict code of conduct to uphold the law, are the ones violating them. “Such officers must face the full brunt of the law and their incarceration must be a reminder to other police officers of the consequences of abusing their powers”, Mkhwanazi warned.
The Acting National Commissioner has reassured communities that police management will continue doing everything to root out criminality from within the organisation and has urged that communities should keep on supporting police in the fight against crime.
Enquiries:
Colonel Vishnu Naidoo
Tel: 012-4006579 /6629 /6576
Fax: 012 400 7018
Cell: 082 567 4153
