NEWS > 29 March 2006

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By Carvin Goldstone
29 March 2006

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Six officers fired for corrupt

task team set up to investigate a flood of complaints from the public on police corruption has already fired six policemen.

The Durban Metro Police's Internal Affairs Division said yesterday that the task team had been set up in October by Metro Police Head Eugene Nzama.

Internal Affairs said although six people had been dismissed there were still several investigations, some of which were not related to corruption.

Some of the cases investigated involved policemen who were receiving bribes relating to traffic offences.

In one incident, a police source said a woman had turned in her husband after she had seen him give a bribe to a policeman. This had led to the policeman's arrest.

Nzama could not be reached for comment, but Metro Police Deputy Head Titus Malaza said some of the dismissals might be subject to appeals, and one dismissed person had lodged an appeal last week.

Malaza, who is the chairman of the organising committee for the sub-Saharan policing conference, which ended in Durban yesterday, spoke to police chiefs about the factors that might lead to corruption.

Revelations
However, revelations about the police being fired for corruption were not disclosed at the conference.

Among the factors identified by Malaza were a lack of ethical training and not enough monitoring of policemen who worked in isolation.

"Do we really know the depth of corruption? That is the difficulty, we don't have any data," he said.

He said it was important that the police developed a database on corruption, adding that there was no single explanation for corruption, but various factors.

"People do not enter the police service to make money. Some join because they want a career, but once inside they turn to this way," he said.

He said some might feel that the police system "does not cater for me, so let me do this to get back at the system".

Members needed to see themselves as part and parcel of the organisation, not as outsiders.

The manner in which police chiefs performed their duties during work hours was important in rooting out corruption.

There was a need for accountability and if there was none then corruption would continue.

Malaza encouraged police bosses not to have double standards and to uncover corruption. He said it was important that chiefs made every effort to ensure that people, including whistle-blowers, felt safe to report incidents of corruption.

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Article sourced from

By Carvin Goldstone29 March 2006

Six officers fired for corrupt

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By Carvin Goldstone
29 March 2006