OK. It sounds more dramatic than maybe it really is. Apparently it's all legal and above board. I just thought they used to auction them after a while.

There is nothing irregular or sinister about the use of seized vehicles by the national police commissioner, Jackie Selebi, or the SA Police Service (SAPS) headquarters, police said on Wednesday.

"The vehicle in question is being legally used by various SAPS members at head office," said Senior Superintendent Vishnu Naidoo in a statement. Naidoo was responding to media reports that impounded vehicles were allegedly being used by police officials for work and private purposes.

Selebi was said to have been driving around in an impounded stolen Toyota Land Cruiser. The vehicle was registered to the SAPS and not to any individual, said Naidoo. He said: "This is but one of thousands of vehicles that are known in the police as Regulation 80(6) vehicles".
full story from IOL here