THE Democratic Alliance in KwaZulu-Natal has expressed alarm following reports that six members of a crack SAPS unit, based in KwaZulu-Natal, have been arrested for alleged theft and robbery (see Mercury report).

According to reports, the officers are part of the newly-established SAPS Technical Response Team, a unit designed by Police Commissioner Bheki Cele to reduce serious crime levels in province.  The men are believed to have been apprehended yesterday in Umlazi.  DA KZN Community Safety and Liaison spokesperson, Sizwe Mchunu, has expressed shock at the news.  "These officers form part of a special unit and have been cherry-picked based on their crime-fighting abilities.  For six members to be implicated in criminal activity themselves is astounding.  The issue of police officers being perpetrators poses a serious risk to government and the people of our province.  These are the people that we rely on to combat crime - yet here they are adding to what is already a serious problem."

Mchunu said that the DA had, for some time, been calling for answers around increased levels of criminal activity within the force.  "We need to know how many KZN police officers are currently under investigation, or have criminal cases pending, and will call on provincial MEC for Safety, Willies Mchunu, to provide us with this information.  It is simply incomprehensible that a department of this calibre should have its own members implicated."

Statement issued by Sizwe Mchunu, MPP, DA KZN Spokesperson for Community Safety and Liaison, July 28 2010