By OBAKENG MAJE
The North West police have launched the departmental investigations against the police officers, who were summoned to the accident scene involving the embattled Greater Taung Local Municipality (GTLM) mayor, Tumisang Gaoraelwe.
This comes after a leaked audio that depicts Gaoraelwe’s voice, confirming that, the police officers found him drunk and assisted him to clean-up the accident scene.
On 3 October 2022, the drunk Gaoraelwe, who was on leave at the time, crashed the municipality’s luxury BMW X3 valued at R700 000, just 15km outside Schweizer Reneke.
The drunk Gaoraelwe was allegedly recorded by unknown individuals during a meeting recently.
“You do not have phones with you and you are not recording? In the issue of the accident, this is what happened. I was travelling with my ex-wife and two children. Benz, my children are 3 and 2 respectively.
“So, our divorce settlement is that I’ll see my children every month. So, it is normal, when she is around, I see my children. If she is not around, when I go to my current partner, I leave her and go to see my children in Pretoria and that’s the tradition,” said Gaoraelwe.
He further said in the audio, at that time when his ex-wife, Sindisiwe Nkonyana was around, her mother had an emergency. According to Gaoraelwe, Nkonyana had to rush back to Pretoria.
He added that, he had to take responsibility by driving Nkonyana back with the children and meet halfway at Wolmaransstad.
“So, after the accident happened, the first person I called was Katlego Gabanakgosi as the person I trusted. The police who arrived at the accident scene, found me in the car.
“I was drunk, but the police had no reason to believe that I was drunk. I was able to speak properly and it was the same as now. So, he cleared (cleaned-up) the scene. Have you seen somebody clearing the scene? He cleared everything and he said, my man….” Gaoraelwe said.
However, when Gaoraelwe asked about the leaked audio depicting his voice, he said he does not recall having any conversation like that and uttered those words.
Gaoraelwe who seemed to be suffering from dissociative amnesia also said, South Africa has more than 52 million people and sometimes people’s voices sound the same.
The North West police spokesperson, Col Adele Myburgh said: “This new evidence (voice recording) received, will be investigated and a departmental investigation is underway concerning the alleged police conduct.
“A case of reckless and negligent driving was under investigation after the accident was reported in October 2022. During the accident, no person was injured and the case has been closed.”
Myburgh said, the police management is committed to deliver a professional service to the community and anyone dissatisfied can phone service complaints on 082 856 0995 or contact your local Station Commander.
Meanwhile, it’s been almost three months since the car accident happened. However, the crashed SUV continues to gather dust at the municipality’ storage.
However, the municipal spokesperson, Ricky Oliphant downplayed the issue and said, the vehicle is kept in the storage because an assessor has yet to conduct an investigation on it.
“The claim has been reported to the insurance and Gaoraelwe was offered a courtesy car as evidence of submission. All documents were submitted timeously and an assessor is yet to submit his report to the insurance,” said Oliphant.
He said, the insurance has appointed an assessor and his report will inform the municipality of the exact cost of repairs.
The Guardian 