It is most disappointing that the Ladysmith Gazette has chosen to misrepresent our comments online. At no stage did we say that police are allowed to do their private shopping with state vehicles.

The reason why members of the community are advised to contact the station commanders directly in order to clarify whether the police vehicle was busy with police work or not, is because police vehicles may be parked at shopping centres on official duty. A few examples would include the following:-

1. Police stations are responsible for feeding their detainees and as such they must shop for food to keep their kitchens stocked with provisions for this purpose.

2. Police officers sometimes conduct work at shopping centres and the mere fact that they are parked in the parking area of a shopping centre does not automatically make them guilty of shopping. With the festive season here, foot and vehicle patrols are being conducted at shopping centres.

3. Police officers who are present in Ladysmith for work need to eat and it would be unreasonable for anyone to expect them not to stop and buy something to eat. This allowance to buy a meal should not in any way be misconstrued as permission for police to do private shopping.

4. Police stations conduct official events which would require some form of shopping.

We have never condoned the misuse and abuse of state vehicles. Members of the community who do come across such incidents are encouraged to report them directly to us so that we can investigate the allegations in terms of our Discipline Regulations.

This is response to the online editorial comment HERE