‘Police refuse to open theft case’
January 21 2014 at 07:09pm
By Lauren Anthony
By Lauren Anthony
INLSA
An allegedly corrupt
Delft policeman has been arrested on charges of dealing in drugs in a police
sting that yielded 15 suspects. FILE PHOTO: SAM CLARK
Durban - Despite the city’s efforts to
promote Durban as a prime tourist destination, two visitors from the
Netherlands will be leaving next month with one particularly negative memory of
their stay.
While walking through central Durban,
near Mahatma Gandhi (Point) Road on Saturday at about midday, seasoned
travellers, Willem, 77, and Christina Beekenkamp, 80, were pounced upon by a
young thief.
“The necklace I had given to my wife
about 50 years ago was taken from her neck by a young man,” said Willem, who
immediately gave chase. He was helped by a passer-by who tried to catch the
culprit but he managed to get away with the 18ct gold necklace.
“After a few minutes, we stopped a
police car with three officers but they were not willing to write our names or
the names of the witnesses. They also were not interested in a cap lost by the
criminal.”
Willem, a retired detective, said he
could not understand the police’s unwillingness to help. The two were directed
to the Point Road police station about 20 minutes away but managed to find a
satellite office on the beachfront on their way back to the hotel.
Again, however, Willem said the six
officers on site refused to take their statements or open a case.
“When I told them I was a retired
detective, they wrote something down, but they didn’t open a case.”
The two returned to their beachfront
hotel where they called the police once again.
However, on arriving at the hotel, the
Beekenkamps were again told by the officers that it was not worth opening a
case, the reason being that the necklace was already gone and, should they
catch the culprit, the Beekenkamps would have to return to South Africa for the
court case.
“Does this mean that no foreigners must
open cases if they are victims of crime in South Africa?”
Beekenkamp said that in the Netherlands
people were encouraged to report any crimes so that cases could be built up
against repeat offenders.
He said it would also be difficult to
claim from insurance for the theft of the necklace because of a lack of case
number.
The couple have travelled extensively
in the past 56 years, visiting all 194 member countries of the UN, but this is
the first time they have been victims of a robbery as well as their first
experience with such inaction from police.
A reward of R1 000 has been offered to
anyone who returns the necklace to the owners.
Christina said it was not about the
value of the necklace, that was not important to them, it was the sentimental
value that could not be replaced.
Police spokesman, Colonel Jay Naicker,
said if a suspect was arrested the police would require that the complainant
return to the country to testify in the matter.
Interest
“We often find that once foreigners
return to their homes they lose interest in the matter and it is a challenge to
get them to come back to the country.
“There is no record of the incident at
Durban Central, however the Station Commander has registered an enquiry to
determine if any police officers were dispatched to the Blue Waters Hotel. It
is not our policy to discourage foreigners from opening cases.”
The Beekenkamps will be leaving Durban
for Nelspruit on February 3. Anyone with information about the stolen necklace
can contact them at big.urf.trav.world@gmail.com.
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