Red light for trainee cops
2003-02-26 14:31
Polokwane - A senior Limpopo traffic inspector who calls himself "the Scotchman" is accused of shattering the dreams of 85 aspiring traffic police by sending them to a police training college under false pretences.
Wilfred "Scotch" Dombeni has been suspended with full pay and is facing an internal disciplinary hearing for alleged corruption.
The provincial transport department accused him of sending 110 traffic trainees to the Metro Police College in Johannesburg without the government's approval.
Of the 110 sent for training, 25 were later approved for training, but the dreams of 85 were shattered when they had to pack their bags and go home, according to Obed Langa of the department.
One of the trainees, Leon Mashaba, said: "We had volunteered for many months and thought our dreams had come true when we were compensated with training.
"We trained for about three weeks before we were told not to set foot at the college again because we were 'bogus'."
Dombeni faces allegations of bringing the transport department into disrepute and giving false information to departmental investigators.
No way to check
He also is alleged to have lied to his superiors when he told them he was taking time off to drop his child at school, but allegedly dropped the trainees off in Johannesburg.
Johannesburg metro police department's college component confirmed that they had accepted the trainees and later turned them away.
"There was no way we could have known the trainees hadn't been approved," said deputy director Conel Mackay of metro police.
This isn't the first time Dombeni has found himself at loggerheads with the department.
He was suspended about five years ago after he abandoned his duties for more than 30 days because he opposed a transfer from the Giyani office to the Polokwane office.
He was eventually reinstated at the Giyani office after three years and the government was forced to cough up about R200&nhbsp;000 in back pay.
He was later forced to move to the Polokwane office before he was transferred to Mokopane (Potgietersrus). - African Eye News Service