A Cape Town police officer facing a criminal charge of torture has been elevated in rank and appointed to lead an active police station. GroundUp reported on Friday that Delmore Manuel was promoted from lieutenant colonel to colonel and assigned as permanent station commander at Muizenberg SAPS.
Manuel is currently out on bail alongside two co accused constables, Jermaine Conradie and Leigh Ann Maroon. The state alleges that the three officers assaulted and tortured barber Juma Igiraneza at his workplace in Mowbray on 7 November 2023. That allegation remains a formal criminal charge before the court rather than an established judicial finding.
The criminal trial remains years away from resolution. On 21 September, the Wynberg Magistrates Court marked the eleventh postponement in the docket and postponed the trial to 19 May 2027. Previous delays stemmed from protracted plea negotiations and the logistical absence of an accredited Kirundi language interpreter for the complainant.
Inside the South African Police Service, internal disciplinary structures took a different direction. Disciplinary proceedings concluded in June 2024 with a finding of not guilty for Manuel. Conradie received a final written warning, while Maroon received an ordinary written warning. A formal ministerial reply to Parliament had already confirmed that all three officers remained on active service during the investigation.
The management choice to elevate Manuel to full colonel and place him in permanent command of Muizenberg generates acute operational friction. Station commanders hold ultimate statutory responsibility for local firearm registers, public complaints, and detective compliance. The police service has not issued a public explanation detailing whether provincial leadership reviewed the active criminal charge sheet before confirming the promotion.
The core controversy rests on administrative discretion rather than legal guilt. Under South African law, the presumption of innocence protects an accused officer until a criminal court delivers a verdict. An internal disciplinary acquittal does not extinguish a state criminal indictment.
Promotion to senior commissioned rank and appointment to station command are executive personnel decisions governed by national police regulations. Police leadership possessed documented knowledge of an unresolved torture charge on the court roll and still executed the rank upgrade and command assignment.
Residents across Muizenberg, Lakeside, and Marina da Gama now interact with a local police station led by a commander whose criminal trial sits in mid 2027. Anyone entering the station to report police brutality or officer misconduct must address complaints to an administration where command accountability remains under public scrutiny.
The ongoing assignment leaves community policing forums without clarity on vetting protocols. If police leadership promotes members who face active court dockets, communities have no assurance that operational integrity takes priority over internal rank progression.
* Who signed the promotion instrument elevating Delmore Manuel to colonel, and on what exact date did provincial management authorise the transfer to Muizenberg?
* Did the SAPS national promotion board review the pending Wynberg criminal charge sheet before approving the rank elevation?
* Why did police management deem a station command posting compatible with an unresolved torture trial scheduled for May 2027?
* Where are constables Jermaine Conradie and Leigh Ann Maroon currently deployed, and do they retain frontline policing duties?