Metro police’s ‘disregard’ for law
January 18 2013 at 01:31pm
By Nondumiso Mbuyazi
By Nondumiso Mbuyazi
POOR EXAMPLE: A
resident who took metro police to task for parking in a disabled parking bay
outside the Camperdown Spar says he was sworn at and threatened by the police.
He took these pictures.
KwaZulu-Natal - A Durban resident, who
says he was sworn at and threatened by metro police officers after he took them
to task for parking in a bay reserved for the disabled, has lodged a complaint
with the force.
And in an unrelated incident, a woman
says she was manhandled by a senior metro police officer after she asked him to
move his vehicle, which was blocking the entrance to her workplace. She, too,
has written a letter of complaint.
Both have accused the officers involved
of being a menace to society and having a disregard for the law.
The city has launched preliminary
investigations into both matters. The outcome of the investigations, said
eThekwini Municipality spokesman, Thabo Mofokeng, would guide the city on what
action should be taken against the officers.
Recalling the most recent incident,
which happened on Tuesday, James Naysmith said he was parking outside the Camperdown
Spar when he noticed a metro police vehicle parked in a bay for disabled
drivers.
He said this was despite there being
plenty of other parking available.
“On entering the store I saw the three
officers at the take-away counter and I asked one gentleman why they had parked
in the disabled parking,” said Naysmith, who took pictures of the vehicle and
the officers.
One of the officers, said Naysmith, had
told him there was no available parking while the other told him to mind his
own business.
“I continued with my shopping and on
arriving at the till the officer was complaining to the manager about me taking
her picture and she swore at me.
“The other officer followed me outside,
took down my (vehicle) registration and told me they would get me,” he said.
Naysmith questioned the police’s
conduct, saying they should be an example to the public. “Their conduct
indicates that they have complete disregard for the law,” he said.
In the second incident, a Dalbridge
woman has also complained about the conduct of metro officers, including one
who allegedly manhandled her, but has withdrawn a criminal case against him
after she discovered that he was a high-ranking official.
The woman, who requested anonymity as
she feared victimisation, said two aggressive officers shouted at her and her
colleague outside their place of employment.
She said the officer fined her
colleague, who could not make her way into the premises’ parking because of a
truck blocking the entrance.
When she confronted the plainclothes officer
the woman said she was met with an arrogant attitude.
“When I asked them to please stop
fighting with me and that I just wanted to have a discussion, they both started
screaming at me in full view of my staff and neighbours.”
One of the officers allegedly
threatened to arrest her, grabbed her by the arm and manhandled her.
Mofokeng said the city had launched an
investigation. - Daily News
