LIMPOPO – Police Deputy Minister Cassel Mathale has warned Giyani Police Station commander Brigadier Solomon Serakwana and Mopani district commissioner Major General Willy Mashaba to act decisively against corruption allegations and restore public confidence in the police.

Mathale issued the warning on Saturday during an imbizo held at Thomo Community Hall in Giyani, where residents and community leaders raised concerns about police conduct, poor service and alleged failures to investigate cases.

MP raises concerns over station conduct

The deputy minister’s intervention followed a series of complaints from members of the community, including Member of Parliament (MP) Kate Bilankulu, who spoke about her experience at Giyani Police Station when she went there seeking assistance.

Bilankulu said she was particularly concerned that the station commander did not appear to see anything wrong with the conduct of police officers at the charge office.

Allegations of taxi rank corruption

However, among the allegations that were raised, the one that appeared to have moved Mathale the most, was the allegation that police officers visit the local taxi rank with their vehicle windows rolled down to collect bags of money from suspected drug dealers.

“It cannot be right for the police to go to a taxi rank, drive around with their windows down and collect drug money instead of making arrests,” Mathale said.

“I hope Major General Jan Scheepers has heard that,” he went on.

Mathale said the complaints suggested that the police were failing to fulfil their responsibilities to the community. “This clearly shows that you are not doing your job as police officers,” he said, adding that even traditional leaders have told him the same thing.

Stalled murder case raised

The deputy minister also raised concerns over the murder of a court interpreter who was killed while travelling home to Malamulele, saying the high-profile case had made little progress.

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“I spoke to Scheepers about this before and after he was appointed provincial commissioner; cases like this cannot just stall. We need progress,” he said.

He instructed police leadership to investigate the case and other unresolved matters.

Gunfire near station condemned

Mathale also condemned allegations of people firing guns near a police station without consequence, warning that such behaviour could not be normalised.

“The issue of people discharging firearms to the extent that it has become like music that people have become accustomed to, must end,” he said.

He urged Serakwana to address community concerns and restore confidence in the Giyani police.

Warning issued to district commissioner

Mathale also warned Mashaba that he would be expected to resolve the problems raised at the imbizo before Scheepers’s next visit to Mopani.

“By the time Scheepers comes to Mopani, he should find this place cleaned up of all the complaints that were raised here; otherwise, that will be an automatic application for early retirement for you,” he said, urging police leadership to work together to restore public confidence.