DA: ‘Dismissed’ cop still on duty as Parliament allegedly misled

THE Democratic Alliance (DA) has accused senior SAPS leadership innie Wes-Kaap of misleading Parliament after allegedly discovering that a cop who was said to have been dismissed was still on active duty.

DA MP Nicholas Gotsell said the party uncovered the matter during an oversight visit to Athlone police station, where a constable with a long disciplinary record was allegedly found working in the charge office.

According to Gotsell, a written reply submitted to Parliament by the South African Police Service (SAPS) stated that the officer had been dismissed from the service on 10 December 2025.

However, during the oversight visit, a senior officer at the station allegedly confirmed that the constable was still on duty and that station management was unaware of any dismissal.

Gotsell said this raised serious concerns about whether Parliament had been misled or whether disciplinary dismissals were being overturned or ignored in practice under the leadership of Western Cape Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant-General Thembisile Patekile.

Gotsell argued: “This is not an administrative error. A dismissed police officer cannot lawfully be on duty.”

The DA further alleged that the incident forms part of a broader pattern in which dismissals and serious disciplinary sanctions against officers have been overturned or reduced.

Gotsell claimed this included cases involving officers allegedly found with drugs, stolen SAPS vehicles, or implicated in corruption.

The allegations come amid ongoing concerns over violent crime, gang activity, and drug trafficking in the Western Cape, with communities calling for ethical and effective policing.

Gotsell said the DA would formally write to Acting Minister of Police Firoz Cachalia to demand clarity on where the information claiming the officer’s dismissal originated, who supplied it to the Ministry, and why an ethics complaint for misleading Parliament should not be considered.

In addition, the DA is calling for a full, independent audit of disciplinary outcomes within Western Cape SAPS since Patekile assumed office, including all dismissals imposed, overturned, or amended, as well as the appointment of disciplinary chairpersons.

Gotsell added: “A province under siege cannot afford leadership that reinstates corrupt officers and undermines discipline.”