Corruption charges against Athlone SAPS officer raise alarm over police integrity

A SAPS officer is facing serious corruption charges, raising critical questions about police accountability. Another member of theSouth African Police Service(SAPS) stationed in Athlone is facing corruption charges after he allegedly helped a drug syndicate but remains on duty. In the video, Gotsell said a sergeant, who works as a court orderly at theAthlone Magistrate’s Court, had been charged with two counts of corruption.

“Cops helping drug syndicates while still wearing the SAPS uniform is a betrayal of every law-abiding resident in Athlone and surrounding communities,” Gotsell said. According to Gotsell, the officer allegedly solicited money on January 12 to secure the quicker release of a detainee. He further alleged that the sergeant assisted an inmate in smuggling mandrax betweenPollsmoor Correctional Centreand the Athlone court.

“Yet despite these serious allegations, he has not been suspended,” Gotsell said. The matter is separate from concerns Gotsell raised in Parliament last week regarding a different Athlone SAPS constable whose reported dismissal he said contradicted what he observed during an oversight visit. Last week, Gotsell questioned a parliamentary reply indicating that a constable stationed at Athlone Police Station had been dismissed in December following disciplinary action.

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During a visit to the station earlier this month, however, he found the officer on duty in the charge office. Station management allegedly indicated that there was an active case against the constable, but that it had not yet been concluded. Gotsell said he would be putting the latest allegations directly to Western Cape Provincial Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Thembisile Patekile when he appears before Parliament’s Select Committee on Security and Justice on Wednesday. The issue forms part of broader scrutiny of SAPS’ disciplinary processes raised in Parliament in recent weeks.

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