The management of the SAPS in Mpumalanga is startled by a media report published by Mail and Guardian last week, purporting that there are six women who have received counselling for sexual crimes allegedly committed by Brigadier Sifiso Cele, the current Acting Station Commander of Witbank.
The media report further contains information that M and G did see a dossier carrying these sexual crime allegations and that two of the women declined to speak to M and G but confirmed the content of the dossier.
Further claims were made that Lieutenant Colonel Anya Chrissopoulos who is the Provincial Head Psychological Services in Mpumalanga, offered counselling to the six women.
The SAPS management wants to set the record straight in that there is no dossier which was brought to the attention of the management. Lieutenant Colonel Chrissopoulos is also shocked to learn that her name was drawn into this matter, which can only be labelled as a smear campaign to tarnish the image of the officer.
Chrissopoulos told management that she does not know anything about these allegations against Brigadier Cele.
The management would like to remind the community that sexual crimes are regarded and taken very seriously by police hence the fight against the scourge of Gender Based Violence. Therefore there is no way that an officer would have been not arrested for raping or sexually violating any women. The community is assured that if there was any allegations of this nature against Brigadier Cele, he would have been arrested immediately.
The SAPS in the province respects the M and G however, would like to make a call to the reporter to correctly verify his facts before publishing a story.
South Africa Today – South Africa News
