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AN allegation that Steenberg police officers, who allegedly knocked over two youngsters on a bicycle, were drinking alcohol while driving has been refuted by the Steenberg Police Station.

ID Councillor Aubrey Robinson, resident in Peter Charles Street, where the incident occurred, is convinced that the police are involved in a cover-up to hide an incident of driving while under the influence on Saturday, 9 February.

Robinson says he waited for two hours at the Steenberg Police Station for the duty officer to arrive to check the sobriety of his officers.

"I felt the senior officers at the police station were waiting for the two hour mark to pass. The accident happened before 19:00 and it was about 20:50 when the duty officer, Captain Albert Abrahams, arrived at the police station."

According to Robinson, Captain Michael Rhudie told him that as much as anyone of the community can refuse a blood test, so can the officer who allegedly caused the accident.

"It was 21:05 when Captain Abrahams came back after seeing the officer and he said he was not drunk.

"He also asked me if I wanted to talk to the officer so that I can see if he's drunk and I said there was no point any longer because of the time delay.

"This is a blatant cover-up!"

Robinson has demanded the Independent Complaints Department investigate the matter.

Superintendent Sharon Govender, station commissioner of the Steenberg Police Station, says no-one from the community has come forward to give a statement that the police officers were drinking while on duty.

She says the investigating offi?cers saw no reason for the officers to be tested. Govender says a case of reckless driving is being investigated internally as well as on a criminal level.

She also confirms a crowd gathered, hampering the investigation, and force was used to disperse them.

Robinson alleges that tear gas, rubber bullets and hockey sticks were used on community members when they were only capturing the scene on their cellphones.

Apparently, a 12-year-old girl who was using her cellphone was sprayed in the face with tear gas.

"None of the officers' lives were in danger," he says.

Inspector Bernadine Steyn, provincial police spokesperson, says the case of reckless driving has been moved to the senior state pro?secutor to decide if it should go to court.

Steyn says, "The youths fell against the police van when the vehicle drove past them that Saturday."

Naomi August, a resident of Peter Charles Street, witnessed the entire incident. She was sitting in her front room when she saw the children riding on their bicycle past the window. "I thought, 'What a couple', because the girl was sitting on the handle bars and had her arms around the boy?s neck," she says.

The pair had just passed from her sight when she heard the sirens of the police van fast approaching. August says she jumped up and went outside to see where the police van was heading when she saw the collision.

"The police van hit the back of the bicycle, and the boy was flung over the girl as well as his bicycle with the impact of the knock."

According to August, the bicycle landed in front of the speed bump in the road and the boy and girl landed on the other side of the bump. The van stopped and August says that was when she saw the transparent bottle being passed from the driver to the policewoman in the passenger seat. "She then poured the drink into the street," August says. "The woman across the street saw this as well."

August says she did not make a statement at the police station, because of all the commotion afterwards.

"I thought the police would come and investigate the accident, but they did nothing. If it were someone else, they would have come to investigate. I think I will go the police today and make a statement."

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