THE acting station commander at Pinetown SAPS, Colonel Ronnie Heeralall, has applauded members who were involved in recent major arrests.

Heeralall lauded Sergeant Matt Janse van Rensburg for his vigilance which resulted in the officer noticing the suspicious actions of an attorney who has since been arrested for allegedly being in possession of marijuana.

He said the Sergeant was on duty at the Pinetown Magistrate’s Court “grills” – where trial attending detainees are housed – on Wednesday, August 13, when he noticed the 47-year-old suspect remove from his person and allegedly try to hand over a parcel of about 320g to a detainee.

Heeralall pointed out that attorneys are only allowed in that section of the court after obtaining consent from on duty SAPS members, who are the only officials permitted to hand over items to detainees.

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On the attorney’s actions, he said: “I think in this case he abused the relationship of trust he had with the court security guards at access control. Also, it was a break of trust by a professional person who is an officer of the court.”

He added that this arrest should signal that “no one is above the law”.

The attorney, who is registered with the Legal Practice Council and is enrolled as an attorney, appeared in court on August 14 and was denied bail, with the matter remanded to September 29.

It is reported that the attorney has pleaded innocence to the contents of the parcel.

“That is not going to suffice,” said Heeralall, who added that the parcel had a name on it, which could mean it was destined for an inmate, with a trusted person used as a “possible access point to get drugs into prison”.

He further applauded the Sergeant because this incident could tarnish the image of the police who are tasked with ensuring that no illicit substances and dangerous weapons are smuggled into that section of the court.

“It puts us in a bad standing with the public and everyone who can then assume it is the police who are corrupt and allow detainees to get hold of illicit substances,” said Heeralall.

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The acting station commander also applauded Pinetown SAPS members who were behind the recent shooting and arrest of house robbery suspects.

“Those members risked their lives. Fortunately, none of them were injured,” said Heeralall, who added that the suspects have been linked to a string of crimes, including kidnappings, hijackings, business and house robberies.

“Some were out on parole from prison. Those are dangerous, hardened criminals and we salute the police officers for their bravery and swift response,” he said.

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