Charges for ‘Toti workshop police’
June 7 2013 at 02:44pm
By YOGAS NAIR
By YOGAS NAIR
.
A marked police van
with two officers was the first to arrive at the business complex.
Related Stories
Durban - The eight policemen who
forcibly removed a colleague’s private vehicle from an eManzimtoti repair shop
will be charged with intimidation and business robbery.
KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner
Lieutenant-General Mmamonnye Ngobeni confirmed yesterday that all eight
policemen had been on duty at the time and had used state vehicles to commit
the alleged offence.
“Their mere presence at Barry’s Auto
Clinic intimidated Collen Ballard (the workshop manager) which enabled them to
fulfil their actions,” a statement from Ngobeni reads.
Community Safety and Liaison MEC,
Willies Mchunu, said yesterday that none of the policemen had been authorised
by their commanders to give support or assist their colleague in retrieving his
vehicle.
Ngobeni said the policemen who drove
the vehicles had been identified as being from the uMlazi TRT and eManzimtoti
police station. She confirmed a case of house-breaking of a business premises
and intimidation was being investigated.
In a statement to police, a warrant
officer admitted taking his vehicle for repairs to Barry’s Auto Clinic in
December. He was quoted R25 000 for the repairs, which he said he accepted.
The VW Caravelle was
towed from Barrys Auto Clinic by a tow truck without registration plates.
DAILY NEWS
The work was completed in January and
the policeman paid a deposit of R8 000.
He was then informed that a fee of R300
a day would be charged for storage, which he agreed to, but he said the
workshop owner told him after 120 days that he was going to hand the matter
over to his attorneys and sell the vehicle to recover his costs.
The policeman said he then paid the
owner for repairs undertaken, but did not pay the storage fees.
The owner of the workshop, Barry Male,
said the policeman owed him R39 000 in storage fees.
“He agreed to the payment arrangement
but then he backtracked.” Male said he had proof that since January he had made
185 cellphone calls and eight landline calls to the policeman to tell him to
fetch his vehicle.
He also sent him 16 SMSes.
Male said only after the Daily News
highlighted the story on Monday did police management act on the incident.
“Now the MEC is involved too. I am
really relieved. I hope this nightmare is over soon.”
He said two senior policemen had
visited him yesterday to take statements.
A Lieutenant-Colonel Govender has been
appointed to investigate the alleged misconduct in terms of the SAPS
disciplinary regulations.
Mchunu called on Koekie Mbeki, the
acting executive director of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate,
to also investigate the allegations.
He also commended Ngobeni for her
prompt actions in dealing with the matter.
Daily News
