Saturday, May 7, 2016

Crimes of the South African Police Service

Lying Knysna cops must answer


















George SAPS Cluster head, Major-General Thembisile Patekile said that he believed investigation into allegations that Knysna Police officials had lied in court in an effort to get a guilty verdict against WO Johann Burmeister, should not be pressured by the media. Photo: Lizette da Silva.

KNYSNA NEWS - At least seven police officials who have lied in court while testifying against their colleague, Warrant Officer Johan Burmeister, are now on the verge of being called to answer to the National Prosecutors' Authority (NPA). Burmeister, one of Knysna's most experienced detectives, was acquitted on July 24 last year, after being accused of theft.

Not guilty
In his finding Magistrate Derek Torlage said: "There is no evidence on which to continue the case as all witnesses, with the exception of Captain Michelle Lesch, had admitted to either perjury and/ or fraud or blatant lies and irregularities concerning police standing orders in the execution of their duties." Even the prosecutor Tabby Thibedi admitted that there was no evidence to continue with the trial and no evidence on which basis Burmeister could be found guilty.

Following this shocking evidence, the police officers were submitted to an internal disciplinary investigation and subsequent hearing. On Tuesday, September 2, SAPS George Cluster head, Major-General Thembisile Patekile said: "I am of the view that investigation (of those who allegedly lied in court) should not be pressured by the media." He visited the Knysna-Plett Herald's offices accusing the newspaper of biased reporting, but assured the editor Ingrid Erlank that the police would deal with this matter according to the book and that they would keep the media informed.

Despite this promise the Knysna-Plett Herald heard from a reliable source on Wednesday, March 4 that the disciplinary hearings resulted in a soft landing for the accused, all of whom only received a verbal warning. The media has not been kept abreast of the disciplinary process.

The NPA will now have to take note of Torlage's findings if the authority is to bring closure to the prolonged ordeal that the Burmeister family had suffered as a result of unethical police officers.

It's been a long road for Burmeister
Burmeister's tribulations started on February 26 last year when he was arrested by a colleague, the then branch commander Lieutenant-Colonel Jeffrey Matiwane who accused him of the theft of a laptop from the Knysna SAPS13 store. He was handcuffed and spent two days behind bars in the Plettenberg Bay Police cells.

On April 14, after being found guilty at an internal disciplinary hearing, he was discharged from the police, without salary. He was consequently criminally charged and, on July 22, appeared in the Knysna Magistrate's Court before Torlage, with Thibedi as state prosecutor. Matiwane's name is on the list of the seven who lied in their testimony against Burmeister. The others are Major Xolile Patrick Gogwana, Captain Dewald Kitching, Warant Officer Abraham Wentzel Coetzer, Warant Officer Christopher Peter Appels, Sergeant Maurice Grootboom and Sergeant Carmen Coetzee.

Wall of secrecy
It seems as if the police are shrouding the case of fraud and defeating the ends of justice against the officers in secrecy. Information on the progress of the investigation was not forthcoming, but on Thursday, February 19, the Knysna-Plett Herald learned that the police had registered a criminal investigation, Knysna SAPS CAS number 207/10/14, and that the investigation was in fact in its final stage.

South Cape Police spokesperson, Bernadine Steyn, responded to a request for details of the case (with specific reference to the case number) by issuing a short statement on Monday, March 2: "We can confirm that a case of fraud and defeating the ends of justice was opened. The investigation is in its final stage and as soon as the investigation has been completed, it will be forwarded to the senior state prosecutor for a decision whether to prosecute or not."

Lies
During Burmeister's trial, the court also heard of a gold bracelet worth R16 000 (three times the value of the missing laptop) that had also gone missing from the same store room only to reappeared a year later when the owner relentlessly insisted on the return of his wife's jewellery.

Under vicious cross-examination by Advocate ECD 'Broekies' Bruwer, the two clerks of the SAPS13 store admitted that they had lied about the bracelet. Sergeant Carmen Coetzee had falsely claimed that it had been 'booked out' to Groot Brak SAPS, and her senior Warrant Officer Awie Coetzer had pasted a piece of paper over his colleague's original entry in the record book in an effort to hide it.
A Community Service Centre (CSC) commander, Sergeant Maurice Grootboom, acknowledged several inconsistencies between his written statement and his testimony in court on the first day of the trail, Tuesday, July 22.

The inconsistencies included not remembering that he had been on night shift and admitting that Burmeister had wanted to sign the laptop out to attempt finding its rightful owner. Grootboom also admitted that he had made his statement only after Matiwane had expressly told him to do so. Furthermore, he admitted that although his statement indicated that it had been made under oath in the presence of a certain Koba, he in fact had no idea who Koba was and he had simply left the statement on Matiwane's desk.

Paper fight
It now also appears as if senior police officers, stationed at the Western Cape head office, are in a paper fight. In one of the letters between two high-profile officers, one wrote: "The family (Burmeisters) have borne the brunt of the conduct of the service and I believe that immediate and visible action should be taken against those involved so as to appease not only the member but also the Knysna community who, by all accounts have understandably lost faith in the service. Justice must be seen to be done and not concealed."


ARTICLE: CHRISTO VERMAAK, KNYSNA-PLETT HERALD JOURNALIST
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