Glebelands: police accused of torture
27 July 2015 at
21:01pm
By: Sihle Manda
Durban - A police task team assigned to curbing the violence at
the Glebelands hostel has been barred access to a suspect in the wake of
torture claims.
The magistrate hearing the case ordered that Richard Nzama be
detained at the Westville prison hospital for medical treatment, and kept on
his own without any outside access, including police, pending a bail
application.
KwaZulu-Natal violence monitor Mary de Haas has penned an
impassioned plea to national and provincial SAPS senior officers, urging them
to intervene. The national police ministry, the provincial MEC for community
safety and liaison, the parliamentary police portfolio committee and the
independent police investigative directorate were all sent copies of the
e-mail.
In the letter, De Haas details the “brutal torture of Nzama,
allegedly by members of the provincial task team”, and “fear for Nzama’s
safety”.
On Thursday last week KZN SAPS spokesman Jay Naicker said two
suspects had been arrested by Umlazi detectives and Crime Intelligence Unit
members for the attempted murder of a man at a hostel last month. Police could
not confirm that Nzama was one of the suspects arrested.
De Haas also calls for the provincial task team to be replaced
by a national task team.
She wrote: “Members of the team have failed to contact the vast
majority of the victims or potential witnesses, and we were informed that they
were not permitted to interview them at Glebelands, and expected them to travel
out of the hostel area, which they refuse to do because it jeopardises their
safety even further.”
De Haas describes failure of detectives to interview people at
Glebelands hostel as “inexplicable”.
The claim is compounded by the fact that Nzama was left with a
“permanently” injured hand when he was attacked last year.
“The attempted murder case he opened then was one of those on
the list given to team members and … there were apparent glaring discrepancies
between what was in the docket (according to a senior management member) and
Nzama’s account of the incident - which raises serious questions about the
possibility of justice being defeated by investigators,” she said.
She said it was pointed out to the Umlazi police station that
Nzama was in “grave danger of imminent assassination”. Since Nzama’s arrest
last Wednesday, he allegedly had endured brutal torture, “including vicious
assault to different parts of his body - to the extent that his teeth have been
loosened and he is wearing a neck brace - and also tubing”.
“He was also allegedly told to run away while being
interrogated, presumably so that the police could find a pretext to shoot him
dead. When word was received about the torture Ipid (the Independent Police
Investigative Directorate) was informed and he was referred for medical
attention. A comprehensive examination was performed and a J88 obtained,” she
said.
Nzama was charged with attempted murder “involving shooting”
when he appeared before court on Friday.
De Haas further writes: “Your police - who are constitutionally
bound to ensure people’s safety and security - have breached South African and
international laws prohibiting the use of torture.”
Naicker referred queries to Ipid. A spokesman, Moses Dlamini
said the directorate was unable to comment on Sunday as its offices were
closed, and it was not able to confirm that the complaint had been made.
National SAPS spokesman Solomon Makgale said the letter would
receive attention.
The Mercury
