Pretoria - A mother is accusing a member of the Tshwane Metro Police Department of assaulting her son and his girlfriend after a night of partying in the capital.
The officer and his colleagues pulled over the car the duo were travelling in on Garsfontein Road in Pretoria in the early hours of Tuesday, the mother said.
According to her, the two, whose names are withheld for fear of reprisals, were travelling home after enjoying a Worker’s Day outing at a local eatery.
Speaking to Pretoria News, she narrated the ordeal of her son, 21, and his girlfriend, 23 saying: “My son called me at about 12.40am on Tuesday after they were stopped by metro police on Garsfontein Road on their way from the Summit Restaurant and Sky Bar.
“His girlfriend was driving and was found to be over the limit after being tested for alcohol consumption.”
The mother – an attorney – said the son told her the officer was trying to solicit a bribe from him, threatening that his girlfriend would end up being jailed if he did not find a way to “resolve” the matter.
At this point he called his mother, pretending to be speaking to his attorney.
“My son immediately called me, I could hear them in the background, that they were angry and were trying to intimidate him and his girlfriend.”
She claims the situation escalated when the traffic officer started getting aggressive, grabbed the girl, threw her in the police van and spat on her.
“I was on the phone with my son when I could hear in the background his girlfriend screaming that he had just spat at her … then the phone went dead. The officer had kicked it out of my son’s hand after realising his intentions to record what was going on.
“As he went to pick up his phone, the officer went back to the van, kicked the girlfriend on the hip and on the back, and pushed her back in the van.”
She added that the group eventually left for the Brooklyn police station where the two were taken into custody.
“I arrived at the police station, informing the police I was the mother but I was told the girlfriend was arrested for drinking and driving while my son was arrested for interfering with police business. She was battered and bruised with scars on her arms.”
The mother claims the police refused to let her leave with their car, which had been confiscated.
A police sergeant, whose name is known to Pretoria News, allegedly manhandled her because she was insisting to leave with the car the two were driving in when they were arrested.
After the mother realised that the two were going to spend the night in jail, she left and bailed them out after four hours, in accordance with the law.
However, when they went to collect the car from the pound they found a number of items were missing.
According to her, the spare wheel and rim, jack, about R140 cash, sunglasses and a bag had been stolen.
The three opened a case of assault against the metro police, case number 20/5/2023, and a second case against the SAPS sergeant known to this publication, case numbe r 19/5/2023.
Metro police spokesperson Isaac Mahamba said the department was aware of the matter.
“We are aware of the matter in question. The matter is now with the Ipid and we will fully co-operate with the investigation.”
SAPS Gauteng spokesperson Mavela Masondo promised to verify the case numbers and respond to Pretoria News, but had not done so by the time of publication.
Asked if the alleged victims had sought medical care, and if she had heard from the police, the mother said even though the two were traumatised, they were recuperating because they had seen a medical doctor.
“The police have contacted us but strangely I was contacted by someone else, first pretending to be a ‘Detective Chauke from Silverton police station’. Then the same person called my son’s girlfriend pretending to be a ‘Detective Kabelo from Sunnyside police station’.
“Thereafter we were contacted by the actual investigating officer, who had no idea who had called us before as he was the only one dealing with the cases,” the mother said.
Pretoria News