One of Durban's most senior Metro Police officers is to be investigated for a series of alleged transgressions, including nepotism and fraud.
He is also being chauffeured across the city by two unofficial bodyguards. Part of the complaint against him is that Metro policemen are not allowed to be used as bodyguards.
Allegations of procurement, car allowance fraud and the employment of several members of the policeman's family by Metro Police are to be being investigated by the city.
The office of the Ombudsman has been asked to probe the policeman after the compilation of a 200-page dossier by "concerned people, both within and outside the force".
The policeman involved told the Daily News that the allegations were false and said that people inside and outside the department had a vendetta against him.
He confirmed that investigators from the office of the Ombudsman had contacted him regarding the allegations and he had submitted statements in his defence.
With regards to allegations of nepotism, he said: "My daughter works in the control room which is a separate department. She was called for an interview and accepted after the normal interview process. I had no jurisdiction over that," he said.
The bulky dossier, which the Daily News has a copy of, consists of more than 200 pages of procurement documents, car logs and phone calls, all part of the alleged evidence against the policeman.
Among the documents are 18 pages of procurement information detailing dozens of repairs done to official police vehicles - by a tool hire company. Allegedly authorised by the policeman, the company ostensibly repaired ball joints, clutches, electronic equipment and gearboxes.
Misfires, shock absorbers and oil leaks were also among the items repaired by the company, which has since closed its doors.
Although the company had been issued an official municipal supplier number, authors of the dossier question why a tool hire company would be allowed to work on emergency vehicles often used in dangerous situations. The company had no Retail Motor Industry, or other automotive repair, accreditation, it is claimed.
"The nature of duty performed by police officers is of high speed chases, rapid response and is also needed to get an officer away from danger very quickly," reads the covering letter by the dossier's compilers to the ombudsman. "How do we know that during that period all the department accidents were not as a result of the inferior workmanship?"
A forensic audit into the use of a municipal vehicle by two Metro Police constables, who have acted as unofficial bodyguards and drivers to the senior policeman, has also been called for.
Instead of being out on the beat in the crime prevention and warrants section, the constables have instead been chauffeuring him to and from work in an official vehicle, while he continues to claim a car allowance for his private vehicle.
Details of his movements in the official Metro Police vehicle are extensively detailed in more than 100 pages of reports generated by C Track, which tracks all police vehicles across the city.
On the issue of his personal drivers, the dossier said: "They are also always in civilian clothing and work exorbitant hours of overtime. They have also been given responsibility allowances illegally as the allowances were never advertised nor published in council circulars. Nobody knows what overtime has been or is being worked by these members as everything is authorised by the policeman himself."
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