A POLICEMAN stationed at Nyanga police station in Cape Town has been suspended after he was charged with rape at the weekend.
Provincial spokesperson Brigadier Novela Potelwa confirmed this and said the male victim was suspected of shoplifting.
According to Potelwa, the arrest of the constable follows an investigation by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) after allegations came to light that the officer raped the man in the police van.
“Due to the seriousness of the allegations levelled against the 31-year-old police constable, an expeditious internal disciplinary process into the fitness of the member to be in the South African Police Service has been initiated,” Potelwa said.
The incident is alleged to have happened on Thursday, December 2.
According to Ipid spokesperson Grace Langa, at about 4pm the victim was apprehended by security at a Jet store in the Junction Mall after it was suspected he wanted to steal clothing.
The security guards called police and the man was handcuffed, allegedly assaulted and placed in the back of the police van.
Langa said the suspect was transported to the Browns Farm satellite office where officers got out of the vehicle. However, the driver drove off with the suspect to Nyanga police station.
She said a female police officer was picked up at the station and dropped off in Crossroads.
It was during this time the constable allegedly took the suspect in the back of the police vehicle to a gravel road surrounded by bushes near the airport.
“He put a gun against the victim’s stomach and pulled down the victim's pants and started playing with his penis while playing a porn video from the phone.
“He (police officer) then turned him around and penetrated his penis in the victim’s anus and when he was done he drove with him to his address in Khayelitsha where he removed his police uniform and later took the victim home to Gugulethu,” Langa said.
She said once free from his alleged perpetrator, the victim contacted his cousin who is also a cop and told him what happened.
Langa said the victim was never detained.
A rape case was opened against the officer.
The officer is expected to appear in court on Tuesday.
Provincial police commissioner Lieutenant-General Thembisile Patekile said the allegations against the police officer are serious.
“It is incidents like these that adversely impact the relationship between police and communities. That is why it is crucial the investigations undertaken by Ipid get to the bottom of this. Police are expected to be protectors of communities,” he said.
Patekile has reiterated the commitment of SAPS management in rooting out ill-discipline among its ranks.