Police in KwaZulu-Natal are hoping to dispute and halt the sale of four vehicles from the Mountain Rise police station, which were seized by the sheriff of the High Court earlier this week.
The vehicles were confiscated by the same police station that recorded a 60% increase in attempted murder cases in the latest crime statistics release.
According to provincial police spokesperson, Colonel Robert Netshiunda, the vehicles were seized on Thursday.
In a media statement, he explained that although only one of the seized vehicles was roadworthy, the legal department of the police was bemused to hear about the presence of a sheriff at the police station, whilst the matter was not yet finalised.
"The matter emanated from a 2018 case of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm where the suspect claimed that he was wrongfully arrested and detained," he said.
He added that the seizure of the police vehicles did not comply with the prescripts of the State Liability Act and the police's legal team is out to ensure that the law is followed to the latter wherein the integrity of the police is at stake.
"With the identified discrepancies in the execution of the court order in the Mountain Rise matter, South African Police Service Legal Services officers are confident that the seized vehicles will be released to the custody of the police to make way for an amicable solution to the matter," Netshiunda added.
Meanwhile, addressing 3,000 commissioned officers in Durban on Tuesday, KZN Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, implored all commanders to make it their top priority to drastically reduce civil claims against the police and take proportional steps against police officers who incur civil claims against the police due to negligence and unbecoming actions.
He said while honest mistakes will happen during the execution of policing activities, officers need to maintain a balance in carrying out their duties.
"However, police officers who use excessive force unnecessarily and those who ignore the basic principles of policing and attract law suits against the organisation must dance to the tunes of their actions,“ he said.
Mkhwanazi added that with many people targeting the police service as a low hanging fruit to institute civil claims against, police officers will continue to tread on thin lines to ensure that perpetrators of crime are brought to justice.
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