The woman, who wished to remain anonymous, says that she went to the police station on Monday, January 31, at around 18:45, because she thought it would be quiet.

She was met with a long queue of people, most of them waiting to have documents validated.

After explaining that she wanted to report a crime, she was told to sit on a bench.

“They told me they were only doing stamping and signing, and I must sit on the bench and wait for assistance.”

She said that several other people, including a pastor, a lady who wanted to report her car stolen, and an elderly couple, joined her to wait.

“At times, there was no one in the front office. They were all sitting in a back office, and we could hear them ordering food.”

She said later two police officers, one in plain clothes and one in uniform, walked around with Nando’s and KFC in hand, still refusing to help them open cases.

“At around 20:45 I asked if we could be assisted. No one was communicating with us. They just walked past with their food and looked at us.”

She said that a female officer answered her in Zulu, saying she must not “come here and talk things that you don’t know”.

“I told her that I understand Zulu, and she must stop being rude,” the woman said.

She took photos of the deserted charge office and left, without being assisted, at 21:35.

On her way out, she came across another policeman who asked for her details and said that someone would be in contact with her.

The woman decided to take matters further and ended up at the provincial office in Nelspruit, where she was given the number of a high ranking officer and asked to report to him if she did not receive assistance.

On Tuesday morning, she was called and asked to come back to the station because they did not have a vehicle to send to her.

“I refused. I had been there for hours without being helped. I was not going to waste any more time going there. When I mentioned the general’s name I spoke to in Nelspruit, a vehicle with two police officers stopped at my house in 15 minutes,” she said.

Brigadier Selvy Mohlala, provincial police spokesperson, said, “Members of the South African Police Service are expected to be professional in their line of duty. Should any client feel dissatisfied with the service rendered, they are at liberty to formally lodge a complaint with the station commander.”

• www.mobserver.co.za was called by an upset person who said that the newspaper and journalist will be held liable because the photos of the empty charge office will leave them “vulnerable to criminals”.

“Members are fearing for their lives and refusing to go to work because of you!” the woman sneered. She asked for the journalist’s personal details and promised to report her to the national office.