Lying Knysna cops must answer
George SAPS Cluster head, Major-General Thembisile Patekile said that he believed investigation into allegations that Knysna Police officials had lied in court in an effort to get a guilty verdict against WO Johann Burmeister, should not be pressured by the media. Photo: Lizette da Silva.
KNYSNA NEWS - At least
seven police officials who have lied in court while testifying against their
colleague, Warrant Officer Johan Burmeister, are now on the verge of being
called to answer to the National Prosecutors' Authority (NPA). Burmeister, one
of Knysna's most experienced detectives, was acquitted on July 24 last year,
after being accused of theft.
Not guilty
In his finding Magistrate
Derek Torlage said: "There is no evidence on which to continue the case as
all witnesses, with the exception of Captain Michelle Lesch, had admitted to
either perjury and/ or fraud or blatant lies and irregularities concerning
police standing orders in the execution of their duties." Even the
prosecutor Tabby Thibedi admitted that there was no evidence to continue with
the trial and no evidence on which basis Burmeister could be found guilty.
Following this shocking
evidence, the police officers were submitted to an internal disciplinary
investigation and subsequent hearing. On Tuesday, September 2, SAPS George
Cluster head, Major-General Thembisile Patekile said: "I am of the view
that investigation (of those who allegedly lied in court) should not be
pressured by the media." He visited the Knysna-Plett Herald's offices
accusing the newspaper of biased reporting, but assured the editor Ingrid
Erlank that the police would deal with this matter according to the book and
that they would keep the media informed.
Despite this promise the
Knysna-Plett Herald heard from a reliable source on Wednesday, March 4 that the
disciplinary hearings resulted in a soft landing for the accused, all of whom
only received a verbal warning. The media has not been kept abreast of the
disciplinary process.
The NPA will now have to
take note of Torlage's findings if the authority is to bring closure to the
prolonged ordeal that the Burmeister family had suffered as a result of
unethical police officers.
It's been a long road for
Burmeister
Burmeister's tribulations
started on February 26 last year when he was arrested by a colleague, the then
branch commander Lieutenant-Colonel Jeffrey Matiwane who accused him of the theft
of a laptop from the Knysna SAPS13 store. He was handcuffed and spent two days
behind bars in the Plettenberg Bay Police cells.
On April 14, after being
found guilty at an internal disciplinary hearing, he was discharged from the
police, without salary. He was consequently criminally charged and, on July 22,
appeared in the Knysna Magistrate's Court before Torlage, with Thibedi as state
prosecutor. Matiwane's name is on the list of the seven who lied in their
testimony against Burmeister. The others are Major Xolile Patrick Gogwana,
Captain Dewald Kitching, Warant Officer Abraham Wentzel Coetzer, Warant Officer
Christopher Peter Appels, Sergeant Maurice Grootboom and Sergeant Carmen
Coetzee.
Wall of secrecy
It seems as if the police
are shrouding the case of fraud and defeating the ends of justice against the
officers in secrecy. Information on the progress of the investigation was not
forthcoming, but on Thursday, February 19, the Knysna-Plett Herald learned that
the police had registered a criminal investigation, Knysna SAPS CAS number
207/10/14, and that the investigation was in fact in its final stage.
South Cape Police
spokesperson, Bernadine Steyn, responded to a request for details of the case
(with specific reference to the case number) by issuing a short statement on
Monday, March 2: "We can confirm that a case of fraud and defeating the
ends of justice was opened. The investigation is in its final stage and as soon
as the investigation has been completed, it will be forwarded to the senior
state prosecutor for a decision whether to prosecute or not."
Lies
During Burmeister's trial,
the court also heard of a gold bracelet worth R16 000 (three times the value of
the missing laptop) that had also gone missing from the same store room only to
reappeared a year later when the owner relentlessly insisted on the return of
his wife's jewellery.
Under vicious
cross-examination by Advocate ECD 'Broekies' Bruwer, the two clerks of the
SAPS13 store admitted that they had lied about the bracelet. Sergeant Carmen
Coetzee had falsely claimed that it had been 'booked out' to Groot Brak SAPS,
and her senior Warrant Officer Awie Coetzer had pasted a piece of paper over
his colleague's original entry in the record book in an effort to hide it.
A Community Service Centre
(CSC) commander, Sergeant Maurice Grootboom, acknowledged several
inconsistencies between his written statement and his testimony in court on the
first day of the trail, Tuesday, July 22.
The inconsistencies
included not remembering that he had been on night shift and admitting that
Burmeister had wanted to sign the laptop out to attempt finding its rightful
owner. Grootboom also admitted that he had made his statement only after
Matiwane had expressly told him to do so. Furthermore, he admitted that
although his statement indicated that it had been made under oath in the
presence of a certain Koba, he in fact had no idea who Koba was and he had
simply left the statement on Matiwane's desk.
Paper fight
It now also appears as if
senior police officers, stationed at the Western Cape head office, are in a
paper fight. In one of the letters between two high-profile officers, one
wrote: "The family (Burmeisters) have borne the brunt of the conduct of
the service and I believe that immediate and visible action should be taken
against those involved so as to appease not only the member but also the Knysna
community who, by all accounts have understandably lost faith in the service.
Justice must be seen to be done and not concealed."
ARTICLE: CHRISTO VERMAAK, KNYSNA-PLETT HERALD
JOURNALIST
'We bring you the latest Knysna, Garden Route news'
08:00
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