Trespassing and allegedly drunk, a police officer and Health Department employee from Mooi River will be facing charges in court.
Constable Mngadi and a Mr Hadebe were charged with trespassing and have appeared in the Mooi River Magistrates Court after Fanie Stokes; owner of Shely Farm in Mooi River found the pair on his property on the evening of April 1.
Mr Stokes returned to the farm at about 8pm and the presence of a locked and vacant police vehicle raised suspicions.
“I called the security company who told me that there was no problem. So I figured out that the van was not there for a routine inspection. I called the Mooi River police station,” explained Mr Stokes.
When quoting the vehicle’s registration number during the report, Mr Stokes was told that it was “impossible” that this specific vehicle was parked in front of his gate.
“I said it’s possible! And this caused some confusion because I was told that the vehicle in question is a court vehicle, not a pool vehicle and should be out at night.”
Mr Stokes minutes later he saw two males exiting his property.
“Both stank of alcohol and were wearing civilian clothes. I recognised one of them. When I asked what were they doing, they replied that they were ‘checking something out.’
I knew this was untrue and that they were trespassing, so I arrested them both and took them to the station with a private security vehicle,” commented Mr Stokes.
At the police station, he alleges that he was met with hesitation, arrogance and alleged intimidation from fellow police officers.
After a wait, Mr Stokes says the station’s captain arrived and a statement was taken and the two men were arrested.
Besides being disappointed about the officers’ alleged behaviour, Mr Stokes says he this is not the first time he has found trespassers on his property and is confident that this was to illicit sex from his female employees, he currently employs about 60 female staff.
“We have a strict rule at the compound that no guys are allowed and this is a responsibility that we take seriously to protect everyone.
We have had problems with guys beating girls up before and now have the No Trespassing signs,” explained Mr Stokes.
Captain Hadebe from the Mooi River police station has confirmed that the incident was reported and that the Constable and his co-accused appeared in court on charges of trespassing on Wednesday, April 16.
He said that no other cases of a similar nature have been reported and said that the police department had instigated a disciplinary hearing process. “I am in the process of obtaining statements from all parties concerned and the process is still pending,” commented Captain Hadebe.