Cop fired over gang’s use of police vehicle

The policeman who was arrested for allegedly conspiring with gangsters has been fired after being found guilty during an internal hearing. Disgraced Kabega Park police station Detective-Sergeant Paul Roelofse, 37, was sacked earlier this week after being found guilty at the hearing on Wednesday last week. The dismissal has led to police top brass warning officials they could be fired if they are found to be on the wrong side of the law. The hearing, handled by Humewood police station head Brigadier Leonie Bentley, had made a recommendation to the provisional office that Roelofse be dismissed. By Tuesday afternoon, Roelofse had been served with his dismissal notice. This follows his arrest stemming from a string of robberies carried out with an unmarked police car that Roelofse allegedly let the suspects use. Following the arrest of four suspected gangsters linked to the robberies, Roelofse was arrested hours later at a suspected gang and drug post in Bethelsdorp. Roelofse was criminally charged at the St Albans Prison Court for using a state vehicle without consent and was released on warning. According to police policy, regulations do not permit any appeal against the internal hearing decision, but it can be challenged as a case of unfair dismissal with the Safety and Security Sectoral Bargaining Council (SSSBC).

On appealing to the SSSBC, the matter will be set down for an arbitration hearing – should the council deem it necessary. Roelofse’s lawyer and former police legal affairs adviser Brigadier Braam Greyling declined to say whether he intended to challenge the dismissal. “We are still discussing our options,” he said. While the internal hearing has now been settled, Roelofse’s criminal case is still pending. Police spokeswoman Colonel Sibongile Soci said: “In line with our zerotolerance campaign to corruption within the SAPS and due to the seriousness of the offence, the matter [internal hearing] was dealt with expeditiously.” Provincial commissioner LieutenantGeneral Liziwe Ntshinga said it should serve as a warning to criminals wearing a police uniform. “The dismissal is a warning to criminals disguising themselves with the SAPS uniform and those who crave to make money by illegal means, that their days are limited,” she said. “We are determined to uproot corrupt officials within our ranks.” Roelofse will appear in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court on March 26.