Here is a typical incident being reported to
eblockwatch on the South African Police Services
“I caught some of what you said on Carte
Blanche this Sunday evening where you commented on how people faced the hazards
of hijacking, household robbery etc. by going out in the evening. You did not
mention what I have today realised is an even more prevalent hazard of crooked
cops.My wife and I seldom go out at night. A rare exception was Saturday 10th
August (last evening) when my wife and I had dinner with friends in
Morningside, 2 miles north of Sandton City. The other couple who were the other
guests there talked of their driver collecting them at 10.45pm and on
questioning, they explained that they made use of a driving service which
collected them with 2 drivers, one of whom drove their car and them home for a
fee.I had never heard of this service and they explained that friends of theirs
had been pulled over by the police in the middle of the night and although they
had had only a single glass of wine with dinner. were threatened with being
taken to the police station for blood tests and being detained overnight in a
cell. They were threatened and forced to drive with the police to the nearest
ATM and draw a couple of thousand Rand to induce the police to let them proceed
home. They simply did not wish to have any chance of this happening to them.I
dismissed this as being rather paranoid and silly. My wife and I left an hour
later around 11.45pm and found ourselves pulled over by a police bakkie on
Sandton Drive just below Sandton City a couple of minutes later.A male
policeman and female police woman approached and asked for my drivers license.
While the female was checking my car registration and writing in her book, the
male said he wanted to search my car. I popped the boot lid and got out. He
searched my boot while asking me where I was coming from etc. He asked if I
“had taken anything?” when I asked what he meant by this, he expanded this by
adding any alcohol and/or drugs?I responded that I did not drink as alcohol
gave me severe headaches and I had never taken drugs that a doctor had not
prescribed.He found a pair of old shoes which I had put in my boot to give to
my golf caddie the next day and asked what size they were.
When I answered size 81/2 he said that this
was his size.I responded that it was a common enough size.He took the shoes and
put them in the police bakkie which was stopped behind my car before coming
back and telling me I could leave. With the horror stories fresh in my mind
that I had heard shortly before, I thought the shoes were a small price to pay
for getting home quickly without further molestation.The female returned my
license and we left. In the 3 short kms from there to our home I passed 2 other
similar SAP bakkies slowly cruising (fortunately in the other direction).On
recounting this story to my sons they described many other similar stories that
had happened to numbers of their close friends, mostly at night, but one happened
at midday where the young man was subjected to a body search and having checked
the contents of his wallet was relieved of R400 of the R500 his wallet
contained.I would put it to you that the SAP pose a much bigger threat to
citizens that dare to venture from their homes than any other!I hope you will
warn your members accordingly of these modern highwaymen.I would sign up to
your system, but frankly I am less likely to share my personal information
including cell phone etc. since this incident than ever before!
Regards R. Muller”
