Probe Cape Flats police,
say residents
February 16 2014 at 04:24pm
By KOWTHAR SOLOMONS
By KOWTHAR SOLOMONS
Independent
Newspapers
Angry
residents of Athlone and Manenberg march down Klipfontein Road yesterday
calling for an end to alleged police corruption at their respective stations.
Picture: LEON LESTRADE
As the
Khayelitsha Commission of Inquiry probes mob killings and police inefficiency
in that township, residents of the Cape Flats have called for an immediate
investigation of alleged corruption at the Athlone and Manenberg police
stations.
About 150 people
gathered at the corner of Vanguard Drive and Klipfontein Road yesterday to
protest against the alleged corruption, and to hand over a memorandum calling
for an end to what they called “an infestation” among police ranks. The march
was organised and led by senior figures from several local neighbourhood
watches and regional Community Police Forums (CPFs), stretching from Manenberg
to Athlone.
According to
Kader Jacobs, spokesman for the Manenberg CPF, they had received several
reports of police flat-out refusing to even register criminal cases. “I have
confirmed actual cases where police officers have actively discouraged people
from registering cases, saying ‘nothing would be done about it’. It’s
disgraceful and horrifying that police, the protectors of the people, are paid
off by gangsters to not only turn a blind eye to criminal activities, but are
also abandoning the communities they are meant to serve,” he said.
The march,
Jacobs pointed out, was not an attack on the police, but rather a call to purge
corruption from their ranks.
“There are many
good policemen out there, but their work is being undone by a minority of
corrupt police. Too much damage has been done for the communities to have faith
in the police,” he said.
Among his
concerns were cases - where the evidence was apparently strong - being thrown
out of court because of a “lack of evidence” from police, and gangsters and
other hardened criminals being released on parole or bail with no warning to
their victims, who were then left to be relentlessly terrorised, and of police
arriving hours after shootings, or sometimes not at all.
“These are all
problems that are rampant on the Cape Flats,” Jacobs said, adding that they
would release their own report on police inefficiencies by the end of the
month.
A memorandum
was handed over to Athlone police station commander Colonel KrisjanVerwant,
Community Safety MEC Dan Plato, and a representative from the office of Justice
and Constitutional Development Minister Jeff Radebe. The Athlone CPF, which residents
charged had also failed to serve the community in certain areas, was also
served with the memorandum.
It called for,
among other things, work performance audits for all Athlone police station
staff, the upgrading of the station, and improved resources for officers and
neighbourhood watch members.
It also called
for the denial of parole or bail for murderers, rapists and drug dealers.
Asked to
comment, provincial police spokesman Frederick van Wyk and Justice Department
spokesman MthunziMhaga both said they would study the memorandum before
responding.
HaniefLoonat,
one of the march’s organisers and former chairman of the Western Cape CPF, said
the good work of the police was being tainted, not only by corruption, but also
by a failure to act against it.
“When things
aren’t going well they change the station commander to satisfy the community,
but that doesn’t get rid of the corrupt officers. They are still there and
continue to do whatever they please. We know who the corrupt officers are and have
given a list to the top cops with the information, but they have never acted on
it.”
Loonat was
suspended as chairman for making allegations of corruption, specifically
levelled at the Athlone police station, last year.
He was later
reinstated to the CPF but lost his position when a new chairman was elected in
his absence.
Loonat also
testified at the Khayelitsha Commission of Inquiry three weeks ago.
The commission
is investigating allegations of inefficiency at three Khayelitsha police
stations.
Aisha Fester,
from Kewtown, said during yesterday’s march that the community had given up on
the police.
“The reason
gangsters shoot every day is because no one stops them. I’ve even seen a police
van just drive by a shooting without stopping. They didn’t even come back until
the gangsters were gone.
“But now dozens
of vehicles are here at the march. Where are they when we are being shot in the
streets?”
kowthar.solomons@inl.co.za
- Sunday Argus
