Crimes of
the South African Police Service
www.southafricanpoliceservicecrimes.blogspot.com
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Crimes of the South African Police Service
Farlam Commission: Police lied about events on 16 August at Marikana
THURSDAY,
19 SEPTEMBER 2013 15:55
City Press reports that the Farlam
Commission of Inquiry’s evidence leaders have accused the police of lying to
the commission about the events of 16 August at Marikana when 34 miners were
shot dead by police. This allegation was contained in a press
release issued today by the advocates responsible for leading evidence before
the commission. It emerged after police hard drives containing
thousands of pages of records which the police have never handed over were
leaked. Among these pages of evidence were documents “which in our
opinion demonstrate that the SAPS version of the events at Marikana, as
described in the SAPS presentation to this commission and in the evidence of
the SAPS witnesses at this commission, is in material respects not the
truth”. The police are said to have lied about the existence of
certain documents, hidden other documents and faked certain
documents. The evidence leaders have called for a halt to the
proceedings until next Wednesday.
South African Labour News
Crimes of the South African Police Service
South African Police
MURDER Miners in Cold Blood
A policeman gestures in front of
some of the dead miners after they were shot outside a South African mine in
Rustenburg, 100 km (62 miles) northwest of Johannesburg, August 16, 2012.
(Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko)
Crimes of the South African Police Service
Bizos Slams Phiyega at Farlam
Commission
Marikana ngos protest rights
Wednesday, April 3, 2013 - 08:29
Bizos criticises the national police commissioner for not
being helpful to the Farlam Commission of Inquiry
Rights lawyer, George Bizos, says the national police
commissioner, Riah Phiyega, is not helpful to the Farlam Commission of Inquiry.
Bizos, who is representing the Legal Resources Centre and
Bench Marks Foundation, says that he will submit to the commission that Phiyega
had failed to provide the relevant answers.
He accuses Phiyega of protecting police who shot dead 34
protesting miners in a wage strike on 16 August 2012, adding that, "Not
only have you come here without answers, but you've come here to avoid personal
accountability."
To read the article titled, “Phiyega wasn't much help –
Bizos,”
Crimes of the South African Police Service
Phiyega
incompetent - DA
2013-09-03 23:18
Riah Phiyega. (File, Sapa)
Johannesburg - National police
commissionerRiah Phiyega should
be fired, the DA said on Tuesday.
"[She] is not fit to lead the SA Police Service [SAPS]," said
DA MP Dianne Kohler-Barnard.
She said Phiyega had been hired because of her managerial skills, but
that she was failing to deliver.
The DA intended writing to President Jacob Zuma to ask him to
institute a board of inquiry into her fitness and capability to head the
police.
"Her latest blunder this weekend over senior appointments shows
that she is totally out of her depth and is taking the SAPS down with
her," said Kohler-Barnard.
She was referring to Phiyega's appointment of Major General Bethuel
Mondli Zuma as Gauteng police commissioner.
The appointment was later withdrawn when it was found that Zuma faced a
charge of drinking and driving.
Kohler-Barnard said Phiyega's attempts to rectify her weekend error were
proving her incompetence.
"Firstly, she claimed that SAPS background checks are more
stringent than most organisations. This is clearly not the case if a simple
Google search revealed Zuma’s charges within minutes.
"Secondly, she has now backtracked even further on his appointment
by saying that these appointments were 'provisional'. If this were the case,
then why make the announcement in the first place?"
Zuma, who is not related to President
Zuma, was to have replaced Lieutenant General Mzwandile Petros,
whose last day as provincial commissioner was on Saturday.
The SAPS said Zuma had been permanently withdrawn from the post, and
would face disciplinary hearings after failing to declare the pending charges
against him.
Kohler-Barnard said Phiyega's appointment had been disastrous from the
beginning.
She had failed to take responsibility when the police shot dead 34
striking mineworkers near Lonmin's platinum mine in Marikana last year, and she
had failed to address police brutality, Kohler-Barnard said.
"Richard Mdluli remains on
suspension year after expensively-paid year on her watch with disciplinary
proceedings yet to take place, and the Crime Intelligence Unit [CIU] is in
tatters; and she has failed utterly to take decisive action following the SAPS
criminality audit and dismiss all those members found to have criminal
records."
‘Phiyega a mistress of disaster’
The Congress of the People (Cope) has also called for Phiyega to step
down.
"Phiyega is a mistress of disaster
and more calamities will take place as long as she continues to lead this
ministry," said Cope spokesperson Mluleki George.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) blamed President Zuma for the
mishaps in the police service.
"Under President Zuma, South Africa has turned into a banana
republic where senior appointments are done without proper security check-up on
the individuals who are supposed to lead the fight against crime," said
EFF spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi.
The Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) said the weekend blunder had
caused concern about the SAPS's information gathering.
"This concern is reinforced by the
revelation in Parliament that there are 1 448 serving SAPS officers who have
been found guilty of serious offences like rape, attempted murder, corruption,
fraud and assault," said Cosatu spokesperson Patrick Craven.
- SAPA
Crimes of the South African Police Service
Constitution remarks haunt
Phiyega
2013-03-26 22:33
Riah Phiyega (Picture: AP)
Rustenburg - National police commissioner Riah Phiyega made derogatory comments about the South African Constitution during a radio interview, George Bizos SC, claimed on Tuesday at the Farlam Commission of Inquiry, in Rustenburg.
Bizos questioned Phiyega about comments she made
during an interview with radio presenter Redi Thlabi.
In the interview, Phiyega said criminals in South
Africa were "absolutely brazen, because we have a beautiful Constitution
that allows rights".
Bizos said: "You were asked why the criminals
behave in the manner in which they behave. You were not asked whether the
Constitution was blue or white.
"Why did you say they are brazen? Because our
Constitution allows rights?"
Phiyega replied: "What I said was that our
country has a good Constitution."
Bizos: "No, you didn’t say that, national
commissioner. Whose rights were you referring to, the criminals?"
Phiyega said: "I thought you asked me what I
said."
The senior counsel went on: "This is not a
classroom in which we play with words. Please answer the question...
"Did you ever believe that the Constitution...
coddles criminals? Have any of your members expressed regret that the liberal
Constitution that we have is responsible for the criminality that we
have?"
Phiyega said she had not.
Bizos said many people were of the view that the
rights afforded to criminals contributed to rampant crime.
Phiyega said she had heard those remarks, but did
not agree with that line of thought.
Bizos said Phiyega’s statement about the
Constitution was "derogatory in relation to our Constitution and the
rights it guarantees to the people of South Africa".
The police chief disputed this.
Bizos said there were many reasons Phiyega could
have listed for criminality in the country.
Scuffle
Citing former police commissioners Jackie Selebi
and Bheki Cele, Bizos said the criminality within high-ranking police officers
and police brutality could be the reasons for the rise in hard-core
criminality.
"Couldn’t the criminality be a result of the
inefficiency of the police force, as it was re-named? Couldn't it be that they
are brazen [the criminals] because of the number of complaints received about
police torture and ill-treatment of arrested persons?"
Phiyega disagreed.
Bizos then asked her how many people had been
killed by the police in the past year.
"I can get those statistics," said
Phiyega.
Bizos's cross-examination of Phiyega continues on
Wednesday.
Earlier, a scuffle broke out between police
officers and a group of protesters outside the Rustenburg Civic Centre, where
the commission is holding its public hearings.
Police officers seized a stack of placards from a
group of protesters during the lunch break.
The protesters shouted at the police officers,
accusing them of murdering the Marikana mineworkers.
"Shoot us all. That is what you are used
to," a woman shouted at the large contingent of police officers.
"You have murdered our brothers. Phiyega must
say the truth," shouted another protester.
Most of the placards read: "Do not let police
get away with murder".
A police officer took the stash of placards into a
vehicle parked nearby.
Marikana Support Campaign spokesperson Rehad Desai
said the protesters had been angered by the "evasive" evidence being
given to the Farlam commission by Phiyega.
Crimes of the South African Police Service
Phiyega's fixer runs a brothel
STEPHAN HOFSTATTER, MZILIKAZI wa
AFRIKA and ROB ROSE | 15 September, 2013 10:05
Makhosini Nkosi.
Pic: MARIANNE PRETORIUS. 15/02/2007. © Sunday Times.
Police chief Riah Phiyega's spin doctor Makhosini Nkosi secretly runs a
brothel in a quiet suburban street in Johannesburg, taking a cut every time a
client hires a prostitute at his premises.
A Sunday Times investigation can reveal that
prostitutes freely ply their trade at the premises in Randburg that also house
the offices of Nkosi's communications company, Makhosini Nkosi &
Associates.
Charges for regular sex sessions range from R400
for half an hour and R500 an hour to negotiated rates of up to R3000 for
"extras", including threesomes. Nkosi gets a R200 cut for every hour.
While prostitutes are raking in cash for Nkosi in
his massage rooms, he runs his PR company from a back office on the same
premises. From here he interacts with clients, including National Police
Commissioner Phiyega, the National Prosecuting Authority, the Black Business
Council, and the Association of Black Securities and Investment Professionals,
for whom he arranged ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe as a keynote speaker
in June.
This week, Nkosi admitted to illegally operating a
bar and massage parlour at the premises without business rights or a liquor
licence. But he insisted it was not a brothel, just "an interesting
B&B" - even though he admitted to paying for adverts on sex websites.
"All I know is these people do massages ...
when two people are in a room, I don't know what they do," he said,
admitting that sex "probably happens".
"We call it an adult lodge for discreet
encounters," he said. "We decided to charge by the hour because we
could make more money."
Asked why pornographic videos were screened in the
massage rooms, he said: "Haven't you heard about happy endings?"
Nkosi's brothel markets itself as the Stiletto
Ranch - although his company registered at the premises goes by the name of The
Network Club.
The Stiletto Ranch is advertised on sex website
Escort South Africa, as it was previously on Sex Trader, as a "private
adult lodge" that offers "successful gentlemen [what they] want and
don't always get". "We have the finest selection of ebony goddesses
and they are rotated according to demand," the advert reads.
When the Sunday Times visited the premises this
week, we were offered sex for money almost immediately - a criminal offence in
terms of the Sexual Offences Act.
Four of the prostitutes confirmed "Mak"
was "the boss" after he made several brief appearances in the dimly
lit bar and lounge area fitted with black tiles and drapes, and furnished with
black couches and bar stools with chrome fittings. Tretchikoff prints adorn the
walls.
Nkosi said the women called him "the
boss" because he owned the premises. He said he bought the house as a
B&B after his contract at the NPA came to an end in 2006 and he was frozen
out of his job as head of communications at Absa in 2009.
"I sat at home for two years. What options did
I have? I had to do something to sustain my family," he said.
In February, Nkosi sought to apply for
"business rights" to become a facility catering for "adult
entertainment". He has yet to be granted these rights.
The women working at the brothel, some of whom pay
R50 per day to stay at the house, said "Mak" could be
"difficult" but was generally a good employer.
One woman, wearing a short, sequined red skirt and
introducing herself as Dineo from Bloemfontein, said the brothel became
particularly busy from Wednesday to Monday.
"Lulu" from Port St Johns, wearing a
short black skirt and tight-fitting top, showed the Sunday Times one of the
four rooms where clients pay for sex. It contained a massage table, a double
bed and a TV set screening hardcore pornography videos.
"Massage isn't really my thing, but I'm good
at any of that," she said, pointing to the pornographic images, before
quoting the going rates. "You can pay at the bar afterwards - cash or
credit card."
Nkosi runs his PR business from the same premises.
E-mails seen by the Sunday Times show Nkosi interacted personally with Phiyega
on how to improve a police image tarnished by a series of scandals, including
last year's Marikana massacre.
"I cannot discount the hostility the media
reports on you [that] filled the gap that was created by the breakdown of media
relations at SAPS national level [that] started during Mr [Bheki] Cele's
tenure," he writes. "We have to repair these relations."
Phiyega's spokesman, Solomon Makgale, said Nkosi's
three-month contract was awarded after a competitive bidding processes, and
ended on June 11.
"His communications skill was all that the
SAPS was interested in and used," said Makgale.
"If he is involved in anything illegal, then
an investigation will be carried out and appropriate action will be
taken."
Late last year, Nkosi also became the NPA's
spokesman on high-profile cases, including the murder trial of Oscar Pistorius
and the corruption trial of Julius Malema. That contract expired this year.
Before that, he worked as a "fixer" for
Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba, dealing with state-owned companies
such as Eskom and South African Airways. Nkosi's company charges between R500
and R2100 an hour for its services.
One of his early clients was businessman Roux
Shabangu - a friend of President Jacob Zuma - who the Sunday Times exposed for
clinching the dodgy lease deal with Cele that led to Phiyega's predecessor
being fired.
Crimes of the South African Police Service
National
Phiyega 'must
have known about Zuma'
06
SEP 2013 00:00 KWANELE SOSIBO
The South African Police Union insists internal scrutiny prior to the
promotion of Mondli Zuma would have brought his criminal cases to light.
It is
"highly unlikely" that police commissioner Riah Phiyega was unaware
of Major General Mondli Zuma's pending criminal matter when deciding to appoint
him as provincial commissioner last Saturday, said the president of the police
union this week.
South
African Police Union president Mpho Kwinika said the system of checks and
balances in the South African Police Service (SAPS) would have shown that Zuma
had a pending disciplinary matter, which should have disqualified him for the
promotion.
Phiyega
announced Zuma as Gauteng police commissioner on August 31, only to reverse the
decision a few hours later after it emerged that he had pending cases of
driving under the influence and defeating the ends of justice.
The cases
relate to a 2008 incident in Pietermaritzburg in which Zuma allegedly fled a
roadblock after a breathalyser test, and locked himself in a house for two
hours.
Kwinika told the Mail & Guardian that
promotion could not be made unless an officer's personal file had been checked
for disciplinary findings. A negative finding was known as a "stroke
five". He said senior provincial management met every day to analyse
the crime information.
"When
Zuma was arrested and charged, there should have been a management meeting to
report to [then] Gauteng provincial commissioner [Mzwandile] Petros, who would,
at some point during deliberations for a successor, have informed Phiyega.
Either Petros kept it under wraps or Phiyega ignored it."
Provisionally appointed
Two senior police sources, however, told the M&G that Zuma had, indeed, previously disclosed the pending matter, but the file may not have reached Phiyega.
Two senior police sources, however, told the M&G that Zuma had, indeed, previously disclosed the pending matter, but the file may not have reached Phiyega.
When
approached for comment, Zuma said: "If I was allowed to speak, I would
tell you the truth, but in terms of procedures, where there are police
spokespersons, I will have to refer you to [Phiyega's spokesperson] Solly
Makgale."
This week,
through her spokesperson, Phiyega said that Zuma had only been
"provisionally appointed" as more background checks were still being
carried out at the time the announcement was made.
According to
the police's national instructions on promotions, successful candidates
are provisionally appointed, then subjected to a security clearance.
The
appointment letter can be issued only once the "suitability certificates
from the relevant provincial and divisional [officials] together with
certificates of acceptance are received and confirmed at head office".
In June this
year, 12 police lieutenants at the OR Tambo International Airport-based border
police filed a successful Labour Court interdict to prevent being transferred
from their posts. The 12 had clashed with Zuma while he was serving as station
commander at OR Tambo, a position he held from 2005 to 2010.
They
submitted as part of their court papers a memorandum alleging Zuma's complicity
in a number of issues, particularly a robbery in 2008 from a police store at
the airport, in which R3-million in cash, drugs and firearms went missing.
Diverse policing experience
The 12 claim in a memorandum from 2010 that black staff members were marginalised, that a number of their colleagues had been told to spy on them and information relating to the robbery had been concealed.
The 12 claim in a memorandum from 2010 that black staff members were marginalised, that a number of their colleagues had been told to spy on them and information relating to the robbery had been concealed.
Zuma then
tried to have the 12 transferred, to "afford them an opportunity to
accumulate diverse policing experience".
Despite
being sent detailed questions, Makgale said he had adequately addressed the
matter of Zuma's withdrawn promotion.
"There is nothing new to add. How you move from an ongoing Labour
Court issue relating to SAPS transfer policy, riddled with untested and usual
union rhetoric, to concluding that the major general is known to be a person of
questionable character baffles the mind," he said in response to the M&G's questions.
Phiyega was
appointed a month before the Marikana massacre on August 16 2012, in which 34
people died when police fired on striking Lonmin mine workers.
Days after
the massacre, she congratulated the police on a job well done.
During her
testimony at the Marikana commission of inquiry, she amended a sworn statement to
say that she had told Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa that she would
attend to the Marikana massacre. Her earlier statement had said that she was
told by Mthethwa to attend to the massacre.
She then
went on to say that she could not say for sure whether it had been police who
had shot and killed the mineworkers on the day, before issuing an apology to
the families.
Phiyega has also come under fire for not remedying
the current bloated structure of the police and for not speeding up its
demilitarisation process, as per the recommendations of the National Planning
Commission.
Crimes of the South African Police Service
932
people died in police custody in SA in 2011/2 - in one year
Above: about 932 people
died in police custody in South Africa in 2011-12, a report by the Independent
Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) revealed.KwaZulu-Natal had 268 deaths
with Gauteng second at 217 deaths and Eastern Cape had 120, the Dispatch Online
reported. Meanwhile, eight police officers, implicated in the death of an East
Rand taxi driver, are expected to appear in the Daveyton Magistrate's Court on
Monday.The two warrant officers and six constables face a murder charge
following the death of Mozambican citizen Mido Macia while in police custody.The
officers were video-taped - this was placed on YouTube - tying 27-year-old
Macia to the back of a police van and dragging him along a street in Daveyton
.Macia, died at the local police station's cells several hours later. His body
was found by a police officer on Tuesday night. A post mortem revealed he died
of head- and internal injuries.Ipid spokesman Moses Dlamini said police
reported that they had earlier found Macia wrongfully parked on a road and
ordered him to move. Macia's death caused a public outcry against police
brutality.The Dispatch Online reported that the Ipid was also investigating the
death of a policeman who died in police custody at the Barkly East police
station in January, a day after he was detained for allegedly being drunk.
http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/2013/03/04/over-900-die-in-south-african-police-custody
Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTchDhCuZM
Crimes of the South African Police Service
04 Mar
2013 | Tebogo Monama
THE Democratic Alliance has
called on President Jacob Zuma to open a judicial commission of inquiry into
police brutality following the death of Mozambican taxi driver Mido Macia.
ANGRY: DA
members with Mido Macia's friends and relatives at the scene of the attack.
PHOTO: ANTONIO MUCHAVE
Macia
died after he was assaulted and then dragged behind a police van in Daveyton on
the East Rand last week.
Postmortem
results show that he had died of head and internal injuries. The eight officers
who have been implicated in the incident have been suspended and are expected
to appear in the Daveyton Magistrate's Court today.
DA shadow
police minister Diane Kohler-Barnard visited the area yesterday and laid a
wreath on the spot where the 27-year-old Macia was attacked.
"There
should be a judicial inquiry into police brutality as a matter of urgency.
"We
are thankful that there was cellphone footage, otherwise this issue would have
been swept under the carpet.
"We
have seen what the police did to Andries Tatane (a schoolteacher in Free State
who died after being beaten and shot at by riot police during protests).
"Police
are literally getting away with murder. The fact that these ones (who allegedly
assaulted Macia) were merely suspended makes me angry."
She also
said the biggest problem with the police was that they were led by civilians.
"The
police are also led by a woman [police commissioner Riah Phiyega] who does not
know what she is doing. They should give the job to a career officer."
Police
Minister Nathi Mthethwa's spokesman, Zweli Mnisi, said that it was unfair to
judge over 200000 policemen based on the actions of eight in Daveyton.
"The
DA cannot say that we have to lump Marikana together with Tatane and to what
happened in Daveyton."- monamat@sowetan.co.za
Crimes of the South African Police Service
‘Police
Stop Promoting Xenophobia’
Lawyer Bruce Hendricks has taken up
their plight and has approached the Western Cape High Court in a bid to prevent
officers from targeting community members.
He is seeking an urgent court
interdict.
“Our next court date is 22 November,
which is the final date for a hearing on this matter. There are 11 applicants
in this matter and we have a senior counsel who will be representing us in this
matter.”
A Steenberg community member, who
said he wanted to remain anonymous for fears of being targeted, recounted how
he was interrogated.
“They pull plastic bags over your
head; they keep hitting you with sticks. If I had done something wrong, I
should have been put in jail, but I didn’t do anything wrong, I was falsely
accused.”
Western Cape police have confirmed
the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) is currently probing
numerous complaints.
(Edited by Tamsin Wort)
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