Decapitated man 'didn't give OK'
2008-07-08 09:51
Stellenbosch - A court has found it would have been impossible for a man to have given permission for objects to be taken from his car after an accident five years ago, as claimed by a police spokesperson.
George Morkel was decapitated in the accident in 2003.
A Caledon police captain was found guilty in the regional district court last week of stealing rubber mats and hubcaps from the car. Although Dawid Johann Jullies was sentenced to three years in prison, suspended for five years, he was acting as station commissioner at Caledon police station the very next day.
Trying to establish how this could be possible, provincial police spokesperson Captain Elliot Sinyangana explained that they were informed at the time that Jullies had received permission from the owner of the car in the accident to take the items.
Internal hearing
He said Jullies was given an internal hearing and found innocent after the car owner confirmed giving Jullies the necessary permission.
A Morkel family friend, who wanted to remain anonymous, said on Monday no one had ever given Jullies permission to take items from the car. "Morkel, the owner of the car, was decapitated in the accident. He died at the scene."
The deceased's sister, Gail Josephs, testified against Jullies and said they had not given him permission to take anything.
She said she had asked Jullies for certain items from her deceased's brother's car, upon which he had wanted to know why she wanted them if she could claim them from insurance.
"When we got back to the car, the hubcaps and mats were already gone," she said.
"To me it doesn't seem right that he is back in his job. These are people you should be able to trust. What does this say of the public service?"
'Poor management decision'
Senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies, Dr Johan Burger, said police should have put together a committee after Jullies's criminal case, to decide whether he was fit to remain in the police service.
"He can't just come back and go on with his job as if nothing happened," he added. "It is a poor management decision".
Burger said a person in this situation could be suspended, fired or demoted. Usually, people in these situations were dismissed.
The issue now was whether the police allowed people to remain in service after being found guilty of dishonesty offences, he said. "Have the police now developed greater tolerance for these guys? They belong in jail, not in the police."
Police comment on the relevant police policy was not available on Monday.