Hijacked,
kidnapped, robbed by police – resident
“I have been in South Africa since 1994. I have
never seen police officers behave this way. You read about these things in the
paper and never imagine it could happen to you.”
SechabaMachabe | 7 November 2013
These are the words of a 40-year-old Kensington
resident, who did not want his name published, after his traumatic ordeal on
Langermann Drive on November 1.
The businessman and father of four was allegedly
stopped by members of the Johannesburg Flying Squad while driving home from
work.
“When I was stopped I thought it was just a routine
check, or maybe I had transgressed a traffic law,” said the resident. He said
the police officers, in a marked police vehicle, instructed him to stop by
sounding the vehicle’s siren. The man stopped his vehicle and the officers, a
man and a woman, approached his car.
“The male officers asked to see my licence. I
handed it to him. He then told me I was wanted in connection with a robbery in
Sandton,” said the resident.
The man was handcuffed, put into the police vehicle
and told he was being taken to the Sandton SAPS. “As I was being handcuffed, I
noticed a man who looked familiar jump out of the police vehicle. He then
walked away,” said the resident.
The female officer climbed into the resident’s
vehicle and followed them. She dropped the vehicle off in Parktown and then
returned to the police vehicle.
“When we arrived at the station I was not taken
inside. I was left in the car in the parking lot behind the station. The male
officer went inside the station. He came back and said his superior had
instructed him to search my house,” said the resident. The officers apparently
drove to the man’s house.
“When we arrived, my wife and children were still
awake. The police officers searched the house. They took my son’s tablet device
and R15 000. They said the money and tablet were stolen,” said the resident.
The police officers went upstairs where they found
some of the goods the man sells. “They put the linen I sell into a bag with the
other things they took,” said the resident.
The man was then put back into the police vehicle.
“As they drove off, I noticed they were driving past the Jeppe SAPS and
Yeoville. They headed towards town,” said the resident. He claims he was denied
his right to make a phone call to his wife or lawyer. After driving around with
him for a while, they decided to ‘negotiate’ with him.
“They said if I left my goods with them, they would
guarantee it gets to their superior and they would share the money among
themselves and let me go,” said the resident.
He was driven to his car, handed his car keys and
driver’s licence and told to go.
“I then called a friend and went to the Cleveland
SAPS to open a case. This was at 4am. The ordeal started at around 8pm,” said
the resident.
“I thought they were going to kill me. I pleaded
with them, crying and asking them to spare my life,” said the resident.
Throughout the ordeal, he kept hoping the officers would realise it was a case
of mistaken identity.
“I have not been to Sandton in the last two years.
I even asked them to check the tracking device in my vehicle to prove my
innocence. They were not interested,” said the resident.
He said the incident has left him traumatised and
he now fears for his life as the people who did this know where he lives. He
said he could easily identify the police officers if he saw them. When he
arrived home, his son apparently asked him if he was a criminal and what he had
done wrong.
“We live in dangerous times. This is no place to
raise your children. Who do we trust if not the police?” asked the resident. He
said he would take this matter as far as he could to see justice served.
Constable Mpho Mashakane, of the Cleveland SAPS,
said the man opened a case and it is being investigated. She said police
suspect the people who arrested and robbed the resident are not police
officers.
“We have gathered enough information to suggest it
was not real police officers who conducted these crimes. There have been
reports of similar incidents around Kensington and Cyrildene where the same
modus operandi was used,” she said.
Spokesperson for the Gauteng SAPS, Colonel Lungelo
Dlamini, said it was difficult to differentiate between real officers and
impersonators – especially at night.
“A VW Golf 6, resembling a Flying Squad vehicle and
used by bogus police officers, was found about two months ago but the suspects
managed to escape. The police have a team of investigators tasked with tracking
down the impersonators,” said Col Dlamini.
He said in some instances, police members are also
being arrested for committing crimes while on duty.
“It is suspected that corrupt members of the
service help criminals get police uniforms. There are bogus police officers who
have been arrested in the past and are in custody,” said Col Dlamini. He warned
members of the public to be cautious when they suspect the people who stop them
on the road are not real police officers.
“Residents are advised to drive to a public place,
or they can contact the 10111 centre to verify the details of the people posing
as police officers,” said Col Dlamini.
He said members of the public must also try to take
as many details of the impersonators as possible using their cellular phones,
in order for the police to have a way of tracking the imposters down.
