‘Police refuse to open
theft case’
January 21 2014 at 07:09pm
By Lauren Anthony
By Lauren Anthony
INDEPENDENT
NEWSPAPERS
A
policeman was shot and wounded during a high speed car chase with armed robbers
east of Johannesburg, Gauteng police said. 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.
Daily News
