police officers

Police officers who conducted the operation admitted or accepted that they messed up in handling the scene, including errors with registering and storing exhibits.

“The police officers who conducted the operation actually admitted or accepted that they had messed up with regard to the handling of the scene and indeed even beyond. For example, going to Isipingo, how the registration of the exhibits took place, taking place without the exhibits being placed in the exhibit bags and even the question of where they were stored. They basically, in the end, accepted that they messed up.”

The police officers involved were acting as a private team hired and paid by Mr Nku, outside their official employment duties, constituting a side hustle which breaches the law and could lead to criminal prosecution.

“I t w a s a s i d e h u s t l e t h a t t h e y w e r e d o i n g f o r M r N k u ... Yo u o r g a n i s e a t e a m o f p o l i c e o f f i c e r s t o d o t h e w o r k f o r a p r i v a t e c i t i z e n a n d t h e n t o b e p a i d b y t h e p r i v a t e c i t i z e n ... T h a t b r e a k s t h e l a w ... I t i s j u s t p l a i n c r i m i n a l c o n d u c t .”

Three Generals, General Kadwa, General Khan, and Mr Mosikili (another General, Lekalakala), intervened at a crime scene where police officers were doing something unauthorized and unlawful.

“if that is the picture, what is it about what these three Generals did, being General Kadwa, General Khan, Mr Mosikili, who was the other General who was there? There were three. There was another general who was, Lekalakala.”

The first police officers at the crime scene were doing something unlawful or unauthorized, and the Hawks were charged with their role at the crime scene.

“with regard to the first police officers being at the crime scene and that they were doing something unlawful or illegal at the crime scene, it was handled by the Hawks, and I believe they were charged for their role at that crime scene.”

The premature arrest of police officers at the crime scene was criticized, though justified under the circumstances of the crime scene management.

“that was the premature arrest of the police officers ... just justified based on the circumstances at the crime scene”

Lieutenant-Colonel Sebola expressed disagreement with the findings that the police officers' arrests were premature in the context of drug dealing and possession of drugs but accepted the criticism about their purpose interfering with the end of justice.

“premature in terms of, but in terms of their purpose of trying to defeat the end of justice, I am still against these findings”

Police officers were arrested for dealing in drugs but this was premature since at the time of arrest nobody knew they were dealing drugs, they were simply interfering at the crime scene.

“They were arrested for dealing in drugs. Now that is premature because ... on that day nobody could make even a presumption that they are dealing with drugs”

Assistant Director Maphosho inquired about whether certain police officers were on duty and whether their commanders were aware of the operation, but did not inquire about jurisdictional authority or whether the officers were authorized to be at certain locations.

“I enquired about whether they were on duty on that particular day and ... We enquired whether they were on duty and whether their Commanders knew about the operation.”

Assistant Director Maphosho acknowledges that in this particular case the complainants are police officers, meaning investigative procedures were different than normal due to the involvement of police reporting the matter.

“it was the police officers who reported this matter. However, we have two cases. We have got the case, the 98 case and the 252 case... so we only dealt with case 252.”

The police officers who first arrived at the scene did not know how to handle the crime scene properly and contaminated it by touching the drugs and loading them onto the van, thus risking losing fingerprint or DNA evidence.

“they do not know how to handle the scene ... there are fingerprints all over them ... no chance of fingerprints being uplifted , DNA being uplifted , almost gone if not gone altogether”

The conduct of police officers mishandling the crime scene was not necessarily a criminal offense, but was problematic for justice.

“the conduct of not knowing how to handle a crime scene does not necessarily make it a criminal offence”

Police officers at Aeroton escorted the truck driver and searched the container without his presence; the truck driver was told he was under arrest for transporting drugs but was not aware of the contents inside.

“He was escorted by the police to Aeroton and on arrival the container was received by Jolene , who asked him to put the container at the bay . He did not see who opened the container . When he alerted from the truck , he noticed the black bags being loaded from the container into the Nissan MP300 . At all , a guy who identified himself as a police officer informed him that he was under arrest for transporting drugs . He tried to explain to the police officer that he did not know what was inside the container .”

Absence of LCRC and their report at the depot meant reliance on verbal accounts rather than photographic evidence for what was found during seizure.

“the absence of the LCRC and therefore the absence of the report that they would have prepared, which would have to told us what was out of the container immediately at the depot, their absence there, in fact, has the consequence that we have your word, and when I say your word, I mean the other police officers as well, only their words about what was found”

No photographs or official records were available from the depot, so what was found relies on the word of police officers.

“there are no photographs, for example, that show – in fact, had the LCRC been there from other evidence, you would have done the count there, you would have done the sealing there, and there would have been photographs of that. So as we sit here, we have only your word and the other officers' as to what, in fact, was found”

Advocate Baloyi SC indicated that if protocol does not require resealing, it should be confirmed and considered for amendment, emphasizing the importance of distinguishing police procedures from general practice.

“If you say the protocol does not require that I seal it back, because it is of no consequence, we look at the protocol ... maybe even comment, finally, whether that protocol needs to be amended or not ... We have to distinguish those protocols required of police officers when they do operations like this.”

Police officers need a relationship with the warehouse to effectively conduct crime scene investigation involving narcotics containers, including unpacking and inspecting them.

“So the constraints are you need to have a relationship with the warehouse before you start . Once you have got that , you must be prepared to work because everything should be able to be done there ... It is called an unpack . Unpack and visual inspection .”

Police officers with no experience in drug busts sometimes identify drugs without confirmatory tests like using a sniffer dog.

“police officers with no experience in drug busts have looked and said, yes, this is Cocaine, and they moved on. And basically they handled the suspect goods.”

Upon arrival at a crime scene, there were police officers and employees of a shipping agent (not employees of Scania company) present.

“Upon my arrival there were people on the scene. Amongst them there were police officers and the employee of the company at Scania, but I was made to understand that company is not Scania, because they were just the agent responsible for accepting the ... shipping agent. In fact, they are just receiving any items on behalf of their clients”

Various police officers were present at the scene, including Captain Optoff who was in uniform and driving a marked car.

“There were various police officers. And then, there were others, I do not remember, but they were driving a marked car. One of them that I have identified was Captain Optoff, who was in uniform”

Sergeant Ndou reported to the 10111 desk that drugs were discovered and the driver was arrested, but did not mention any crime involving police officers trying to leave with the drugs, which seems to misrepresent the true nature of the event.

“even when Sergeant Ndou gives a report back to the 1011 desk, he does not mention that there is a crime happening, i.e. police officers trying to leave with the drugs. Instead, it looks like he is reporting back that there is an operation happening where police have discovered drugs and that the truck driver has been arrested .”

Law enforcement officers were complicit in the drug hijacking trends.

“That is correct.”

Police officers sometimes keep the identity of their informers secret to protect the sources, but in this case the informer was publicly exposed and even arrested, which is unusual.

“Police officers refuse to tell other police who their informers are because they do not want to place their sources at risk. ... Here you are in full plain sight of everybody ... ending with an informer exposed and arrested”

The complainant in the IPID investigation was Mr Mashaba and three police officers who were arrested, including a traffic officer and two police officers, plus a private individual.

“the complainant ... Mr Mashaba ... the three police officers who were arrested ... the traffic officer and the two police officers, and then the private individual”

Drug supply happens under the protection of police officers, making it difficult for communities to combat drug trade effectively.

“That that happens under protection of police officers, and that is why even communities are unable to win when they try and fight that”

General Senon was reported as present when the drugs were stored, based on sources from the case docket and witness statements of police officers present.

“General Senon was present when the drugs were stored... that information is sourced from the case docket... there are witnesses that say he was there... presumably those witnesses would be the people that were present, either, would be police officers”

Sergeant Nkosi shared information with a journalist named Natasha, including Mr. Khawula's details and a warrant of arrest, so she could call the nearest police to effect an arrest if she saw Mr. Khawula around.

“I think shared it just to assure this one that she must not worry, I have got everything that I wanted, I do not need her to give me that information, the way. Maybe if she sees him around where she have fun, she would call the nearest police office, officers to come and effect arrest.”

There was an attempt through other people to bribe Lieutenant General Shibiri and hired people to eliminate them, but these people were arrested, including police officers, though the matter was withdrawn due to insufficient evidence.

“Actually, there was attempt through other people. And they could not reach us because we were so close. And there were people hired to come and eliminate us. And because we formed another team to counter the threat. And those people were arrested. And only to find there were police officers also those people. But matter was due to insufficient evidence was end up being withdrawn.”

Majority of police officers are not corrupt and do their best, making overt bribery attempts difficult especially if the officers do not know each other.

“I believe the majority of police officers are not corrupt out there, and they are doing their level best... When they do not know each other, I do not see it being easy to happen... I do not see that being so easy, but it never happened.”

Articles shared with Lt-Gen Sibiri allege police officers' implication in the killing of Sindiso Magaqa and make allegations against General Khumalo.

“article related to the PKT and the implication of police officers in the killing of Sindiso Magaqa... there are allegations made against General Khumalo”