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SCOPA says rogue elements at SAPS need parliament intervention

National-AssemblyParliament
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Rogue elements within the South African Police Services (SAPS) will continue to get away with corruption and criminality unless Parliament addresses legislation governing both the SAPS and the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) urgently, says SCOPA chairperson Themba Godi after he and his committee were briefed by IPID’s Matthew Sesoko.

According to Sesoko, IPID investigations into alleged corrupt and criminal activities of SAPS members are constantly being undermined.

He says this is done through either counter-investigations or through police classifying documents and evidence necessary for their investigations.

IPID’s now asked SCOPA to assist them with their call to strengthen legislation.

Sesoko believes this will help prevent corrupt police from hiding behind their badges and offices.

Sesoko says, “We’ve learnt lessons. And part of those lessons is interference with our investigations. Issues relating to documents that are classified by the SAPS which we believe they shouldn’t be. So we’re saying that we need our legislations to be strengthened. Not only IPID, but SAPS as well as the intelligence oversight legislation to be able to deal with all these legislative loopholes to enable us to be able to discharge our mandate in line with the Constitution.”

Godi says, “Right now the unseemly situation where SAPS and IPID have taken each other to court and both of them using, wasting public money is totally unacceptable. There has to be an administrative mechanism that should enable them to resolves these issues without having to run to the courts”

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