Police Minister Bheki Cele says internal disciplinary action has been instituted against two police officers in Mahikeng who are being investigated for rape.

The duo allegedly attended to a complaint on Wednesday at Lorwaneng Village in Mahikeng.

They reportedly found a 20-year-old woman who had an altercation with her partner and subsequently left with her saying they were charging her for malicious damage to property, for breaking the windows at her partner’s place.

She alleges that they then stopped on the way and raped her.

Cele, who was in Mahikeng for the ministerial crime prevention imbizo, says while police watchdog IPID probes criminal matters, the SAPS has also launched its own internal disciplinary action.

“Those people are being investigated and we have been given only a week by the IPID to act on that. But not only that, the station commander here, brigadier is working on it. So, we are working on both fronts, the internal discipline and the criminal issues that we need to pursue.”

Regaining community confidence

Newly appointed National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola says they will work hard so they regain the confidence of the communities in Mahikeng.

“We don’t have to tell the people here that we are doing good. We will come here and do the work, and they will determine for themselves, whether are we good or not. But surely, we are going to make sure that we are focusing on this area, including the police station which the community complains about. We will do an audit of the station, find out what are the problems are, attend and address those specific problems, and ensure that there is peace in this area.”

Source: SABC News