Provincial commissioner of the South African Police Service (SAPS) in Limpopo, Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe has expressed concern after a video circulated showing police officers blaring their marked vehicle siren after receiving an aphrodisiac drink from a hawker.
The video seen by IOL shows a street vendor, carrying a drink in a five-litre container interacting with police officers sitting in a marked SAPS bakkie.
The video has been circulating on various social media platforms.
“The video showcased the police officials allegedly from Vhembe district participating in a marketing campaign of a hawker by utilising SAPS marked vehicle and siren,” said Limpopo provincial police spokesperson, Brigadier Hlulani Mashaba.
“The hawker was also seen giving the officers a drink and requesting them to use the police van’s siren in the process.”
After the two police officer take turns swigging back the drink poured into a cup by the hawker, the men in blue then blow the siren – and the energetic hawker is greatly impressed.
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Meanwhile, provincial commissioner Hadebe has directed the district commissioner of police in Vhembe, Major General Eddie Van Der Walt to carry out “a thorough” investigation and ensure that appropriate action is taken against the police members involved, in line with the SAPS discipline regulations and the police code of conduct.
Last year, IOL reported that KwaZulu-Natal provincial police commissioner, Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi spoken out against police officers doing grocery shopping in full uniform, saying that such behaviour is not accepted in his ranks and called on the community to take pictures of the offending officers and report them.
Mkhwanazi, who has garnered a reputation for his no-nonsense approach to policing in KZN police circles, told a gathering of civilians and police officers that the behaviour of the men and women in blue was questionable.
“A typical behaviour is that policemen are not supposed to go shopping in uniform, including these generals. If you find them at Woolies, you find them at Shoprite, if you find them at Pick’n Pay dressed in uniform, take a picture of that person and report to it us,” he said.
IOL