SLEEPING ON THE JOB

A VIDEO circulating on social media which sees three cops tieping in a South African Police Service (SAPS) vehicle in an open field has resulted in a call for the Western Cape police commissioner to name and shame the officers.

The person taking the video said they were on their way back from the unnamed mall before 1pm when they walked past the parked SAPS vehicle and when they returned to take the video, it was 3.02pm.

According to that time frame, the officers were parked in that spot for more than two hours. The video has, understandably, left mense infuriated.

One netizen said: “We do not pay them to sleep on duty.” Another added: “These cops are embarrassing, it’s really embarrassing.”

There were mense who had sympathy for the officers, with one saying: “They are not robots at the end of the day, a human body does get tired.”

Nog ene added: “What if they worked a double shift protecting your community.”

It is unclear in which area the vehicle was parked and police said that they could not comment on the circumstances.

SAPS explained that no official complaint was laid and they currently do not have the incident on record.

Police spokesperson Captain FC van Wyk added: “This office cannot identify the members or the vehicle.”

DA Member of Parliament and Parliamentary Select Committee member on Security and Justice, Nicholas Gotsell, said incidents like these - including Riviersonderend Station Commander Sergeant Dube’s wife, Sergeant Manyambose Dube, who was gevang sleeping with her firearm next to her in September 2023 - indicates a growing breakdown of discipline in SAPS.

Gotsell said: “Officers must be alert and do their job - which is to protect the community. This is not about tiredness; it’s about accountability.

“When the Provincial Commissioner condones the dismissal of disciplinary panels’ findings of guilt, even in serious cases, it sends the message that misconduct has no consequences. That is why we see this kind of behaviour.

“The vast majority of good, hard-working officers in blue are being tainted by the few who treat the uniform with disrespect.

“When a marked police van becomes a hotel room, public trust in law enforcement goes to sleep too.”

He has further appealed to the Western Cape provincial police commissioner to urgently make the names of the officers involved public and to explain what action will be taken.