Upon investigation on Monday, it appears that the men, in SAPS uniforms, may have been conmen who managed to steal R1 000 from the scared woman, and not members of the Springs SAPS at all.
“I saw one policeman with a torch in his hand flagging me down,” says the resident who believed the men to be from the SAPS.
It is alleged that the policeman ordered her to get out of the vehicle and breath into a breathalyser to check her alcohol level.
“My breath alcohol content was 0.23mg, he showed me a piece of paper with the scale of the readings and explained that with my reading, he has to take me to the police station and the fine is R1 500,” she says.
The woman’s mother explained that the tube at the end of the aparetus was not changed when her daughter was stopped and asked to blow.
This, she says raises two questions in her opinion: “Is it not a legally required, standard procedure to insert a new blowing tube and what guarentee do motorises have of a genuine reading if the tube has been used before?”
According to the resident, she asked if she could make a phone call from her cellphone, which was still in her car, but was ordered not to.
She then asked them if she could go to an ATM to draw money and one policeman accompanied her to the nearest ATM where she drew R1 000.
“Back at the scene, I gave him the money. He gave me back my driver’s licence and said R1 000 was enough, I could go,” she says.
During the ordeal, the resident couldn’t stop crying and alleged that they ordered her to stop crying as they would throw her in the back of one of the police vehicles.
According to Springs police spokesman Captain Johannes Ramphora, he is not aware of any local police road block taking place over the weekend and says the police do not have breathalysers.
“It is standard procedure that a policeman must identify themselves by introduction and explain that it is a roadblock. They are obliged by law to do so,” he says.
While the woman was not allowed to contact her parents for help, Capt Ramphonra add that the police must allow the motorists use of their phones to make a call.
Capt Ramphora’s advice to the public is to check the registration numbers of the vehicles, the exact position of the road block and ask for the person in command.
According to the EMPD spokesman Superintendent Wilfred Kgasago he is also not aware of any road blocks being held over the weekend by the EMPD.
“I am aware that the police do not have breathalysers, but they sometimes ask for these from the EMPD,” he says.
Sup Kgasago adds the end piece of each breathalyser comes in a sealed packet and needs to be replaced every time a new person is tested. This is not only for the purpose of hygiene, but also it might jeopardise the breath alcohol reading.
Capt Ramphora and Sup Kgasago agree there is no money involved at any road blocks and the public can insist on a sealed end piece.
“If a person refuses to breath into a breathalyser, the police can take them to the Far East Rand Hospital to have their blood tested by a doctor,” says Capt Ramphora.
Information:
The legal limit according to the AA website is a breath alcohol content of 0.24mg per 1 000ml, or a blood alcohol limit of 0.5mg per 100ml.
In layman’s terms it is equal to two thirds of a beer or cider with 5% alcohol content.
For wine drinkers, 75ml of red or white wine per hour with an alcohol content of 12%to 14% is acceptable.
Whisky and brandy connoisseurs can drink up to one 25ml tot of alcohol per hour.
