The Independent Complaints Directorate is set to recommend that charges of negligence be brought against a police officer after two detainees were shot dead with his firearm.
The police officer, attached to Durban's KwaMashu Police Station, had broken every rule in the book of police operating procedures, said Tommy Tshabalala, general manager of investigations at the Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) head office in Pretoria.
Last week, the police officer went into the station's holding cells alone, carrying a loaded firearm in his holster. It was removed from him and used in the double shooting.
The incident was reported to the ICD, which not only investigated, but attended the post mortem.
Tshabalala said the ICD was able to confirm the policeman's firearm was the one used in the shooting.
He said that on the night in question, two police officers were on duty in the office adjoining the holding cells.
The inspector went alone to investigate cell number 3 at 12.45am, leaving his partner in the office because the lights were apparently not working.
He told the investigating officer that as he unlocked the door between the cell and the adjoining exercise area, one of the prisoners, Mthandeni Majola, grabbed his firearm.
"The police inspector managed to throw away the keys and ran into the passage screaming for help," said Tshabalala.
His colleague opened the steel gate from the outside and they went to ask for backup.
"They heard two shots being fired. When they returned to the cells they found Majola and another prisoner, Thokozani Shobede, dead on the floor," said Tshabalala.
The other detainees, who were now in the exercise area, told police Majola had instructed everyone to leave the cell, but ordered Shobede to remain behind.
"It seems Majola and Shobede were arrested together on charges of multiple murder," said Tshabalala.
The police found two spent cartridges on the floor, consistent with the double shooting, but also a number of rounds of live ammunition, leading them to believe Majola might not have been familiar with the firearm.
Amid allegations the police inspector might have been drinking, other prisoners apparently told the investigating officer there was no sign of his being under the influence.
"We will not be taking the matter further on the criminal charges front, because two civilians were involved, but we are making recommendations to the police that disciplinary steps be taken against the officer because he breached so many operating procedures," said Tshabalala.
"He went alone into the holding cell, he carried a loaded firearm into the cell, and left it behind there. This is a case of pure negligence," he said.
The ICD was investigating and would look into the police officer's track record, Tshabalala said.
Despite a series of phone calls, the Weekend Argus was unable to get any response from the SAPS.