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Cop
shot handcuffed man in back
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Sergeant convicted of killing near club
POLICE sergeant was yesterday convicted of culpable homicide for shooting a handcuffed man in the back when he was fleeing after being arrested at a Boksburg nightclub. Sergeant Raymond le Roux was found guilty of culpable homicide by the Palm Ridge High Court for shooting Rean Ramdin last year. He will be sentenced on April 19. “We’re not happy at all,” said Ramdin’s sister, Melody Perumal. The family believed that Le Roux should have been convicted of murder, not the lesser charge of culpable homicide. “He was in handcuffs, running away,” said Perumal, Aquestioning how Ramdin could have been a threat to police officers. Ramdin’s hands were handcuffed behind his back. Perumal said nine shots were fired at her brother as he was chased about 60m from the police vehicle he had jumped from. The ninth shot killed him. She believed Le Roux was tired of chasing Ramdin, so he shot him. Le Roux was arrested by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid). He has since resigned from the police. He was charged with murder but was convicted of culpable homicide instead. “It is alleged that police were called to a club in Boksburg North after the deceased was allegedly found with drugs at the club. “They took 29-year-old Rean Ramdin away in a police vehicle after handcuffing him. It is alleged he jumped out of the vehicle and ran away. The suspect shot and killed Ramdin after he allegedly ignored warning shots,” said Ipid spokesman Moses Dlamini yesterday. At the time of the shooting, The Star reported that Ramdin’s family last saw him when he told his parents he was going on a date to an ice cream parlour. The next day – after calling police stations, friends, hospitals and mortuaries – they found his body at the Springs mortuary, shot in the back, Nobody told them he had been shot. Perumal said at the time that her brother had come out of rehab for drug addiction a week earlier, and was trying to change his behaviour. He met up with his cousins at Presley’s nightclub in Boksburg; they went on to another venue but he stayed on. Later the family were told that Ramdin was arrested at Presley’s, was handcuffed and put in a police car, but escaped at the corner of Rietfontein and Rondebult roads. Police told the family he was handcuffed, two warning shots were fired but he continued to run and was then shot dead. By Louise Flanagan The Star 28/03/13 Early Edition |
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Crimes of the South African Police Service
Crimes of the South African Police Service
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Police minister to pay R60 000 damages to arrested diabetic man
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A DIABETIC man with a wooden leg has been
awarded R60 000 damages after his unlawful arrest and detention on a trumped-up
assault charge.
Judge Sullette Potterill in the North Gauteng High Court ordered the minister of police to pay this amount to Edenville salesman Jan Strauss. He initially sued the police for R500 000 damages after he was arrested while picking up his daughter at a friend’s house in September 2010. He was detained for two days before being released and thereafter had to appear in court three times on charges of assault and crimen injuria before the charges were withdrawn against him.
Strauss strenuously denied ever assaulting anyone. He said in a statement he had seen people milling around in front of his friend’s house when he went to pick up his daughter. When he stopped near the house, police pulled him out of his car and violently threw him in the back of a police van. Soon after his friend Raymond Smit was also locked up in the van. They were driven to Kroonstad for Smit’s blood to be drawn, but the doctor on duty refused as he could see Smit was not drunk.
Strauss told the police he was a diabetic who needed medication, but they laughed at him. He fell into a diabetic coma from time to time due to his high sugar levels. Even after his wife brought his medication to the police station they refused to give it to him, he said. Strauss said he was a prominent member of his church in Edenville and was very aggrieved at the way he was treated in front of the public and his children
By Ilse de Lange
The Citizen 27/03/13
Judge Sullette Potterill in the North Gauteng High Court ordered the minister of police to pay this amount to Edenville salesman Jan Strauss. He initially sued the police for R500 000 damages after he was arrested while picking up his daughter at a friend’s house in September 2010. He was detained for two days before being released and thereafter had to appear in court three times on charges of assault and crimen injuria before the charges were withdrawn against him.
Strauss strenuously denied ever assaulting anyone. He said in a statement he had seen people milling around in front of his friend’s house when he went to pick up his daughter. When he stopped near the house, police pulled him out of his car and violently threw him in the back of a police van. Soon after his friend Raymond Smit was also locked up in the van. They were driven to Kroonstad for Smit’s blood to be drawn, but the doctor on duty refused as he could see Smit was not drunk.
Strauss told the police he was a diabetic who needed medication, but they laughed at him. He fell into a diabetic coma from time to time due to his high sugar levels. Even after his wife brought his medication to the police station they refused to give it to him, he said. Strauss said he was a prominent member of his church in Edenville and was very aggrieved at the way he was treated in front of the public and his children
By Ilse de Lange
The Citizen 27/03/13
Crimes of the South African Police Service
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Road
rage shooting: cop held
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A KNYSNA policeman has been arrested after
allegedly shooting a motorist in an apparent road rage attack with a gun he
had earlier stolen.
Southern Cape police spokeswoman Captain Bernadine Steyn said the 42year-old policeman was arrested in Knysna on Saturday night after the shooting. It has reliably been learnt that the alleged victim’s name is Malamoela Bennett, 31. He is currently in a stable condition at George Hospital. He apparently reversed his bakkie from the pavement into the road, into the path of a bakkie owned by an off-duty sergeant. The policeman allegedly took out a firearm and shot the victim in the chest. “A follow-up investigation confirmed that the firearm that was used during the incident was stolen earlier the same evening at Knysna police station,” Steyn said. The policeman was due to appear on attempted murder and theft charges in the Knysna Magistrate’s Court this morning. By John Harvey The Star 19/03/13 Early Edition |
Crimes of the South African Police Service
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Officer
behind bars after weapons sold
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A LIMPOPO police captain has been arrested for allegedly illegally
selling guns meant to be destroyed to the public.
Police strongly suspect some of the weapons were sold to criminals by one of their own. The 41-year-old officer, stationed in Polokwane, had been placed in charge of an SAPS storeroom. “This is where we store all those illegal firearms that we recover during operations and those that people volunteer to hand in. He then illegally sells them to the public, even before he registers them in our books,” said Limpopo police spokesman Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi. He said one of the vintage firearms, yet to be deactivated, had been registered under the name of a close relative of the policeman. The Star understands from a source close to the investigation that the policeman collected the vintage gun as an antique for his wife. “The wife is also a police captain. She is being investigated and she might soon be arrested,” said the source. The insider said the vintage firearm previously belonged to Jack Botes, a former mayor of Polokwane. Mulaudzi said the policeman was arrested on Friday. “The captain’s activities were exposed after members of the public (enquired about) their firearms which they found were no longer at the police nor registered as (having) been handed in.” An investigation found that three firearms went missing and were believed to be in criminals’ hands. “The possibility of more of (these) firearms being sold cannot be ruled out,” he said. The suspect was expected to appear in the Polokwane Magistrate’s Court today on charges of corruption and fraud, said Mulaudzi. By Moloko Moloto The Star 18/03/13 Early Edition |
Crimes of the South African Police Service
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Officer
sues police minister for R1m
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Maluleke said he was obeying the reasonable and lawful instructions of
his superiors when he visited the Public Protector’s offices.
A PRETORIA crime intelligence officer who was accused of unlawfully raiding and trying to intimidate the office of the Public Protector is suing the police minister for R1 million damages claiming he now fears for his life. Johannes Bauke Maluleke, 47, claimed in court papers before the North Gauteng High Court his bosses had laid false charges against him, wrongfully accused him of misconduct, maligned him, harmed his reputation and dignity and cause him to suffer from post-traumatic stress. Maluleke was suspended from duty in March 2011 in the wake of a much publicised visit to the offices of the Public Pretector Thule Mandolsa. Although he was publicly accused of acting disgracefully by questioning the Public Protector on her report into the new police headquarters in Pretoria, his suspension was withdrawn a month later and he was never called for a disciplinary hearing. Maluleke said he was obeying the reasonable and lawful instructions of his superiors and advice received from Crime Intelligence’s legal office when he visited the Public Protector’s offices. He alleged the allegations against him and the notice of his intended suspension were defamatory and had damaged his reputation and dignity. The court yesterday ordered the minister to deliver certain further documents within the next 10 days and to pay Maluleke’s wasted costs. By Ilse de Lange The Citizen 07/03/13 |
Crimes of the South African Police Service
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Father
of raped girl’s miffed with cops
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THE FATHER of a 15-year-old West Rand girl who was allegedly raped by
her schoolteacher says he has lost faith in the police service.
The man, who cannot be named to protect his daughter’s identity, said the police officer probing the case hadn’t updated the family on the case. “I had gone with the (investigating) officer to the school to enquire about the teacher’s whereabouts. “When we got to the school, we were told by the principal that he had sent him home.” At the time, he added, the teacher had not been arrested. He said he had last seen the investigating officer on Monday, February 25. The father complained that he had only learnt about the accused’s court appearance from his colleagues. The Star understands that the suspect made his second court appearance on Monday at the Krugersdorp Magistrate’s Court. The case was postponed to April 3 for further investigations. It is alleged that the girl was raped by the teacher in the veld after he had given her a lift from school with a friend. He had allegedly raped the girl after dropping off her friend. Kagiso police station commander Brigadier Sipho Ngubane apologised yesterday to the family for not updating them on the case. Meanwhile, the family said the girl had been moved to another school. Gauteng Education Department said on Monday the teacher had been placed “on precautionary suspension”. By Kutlwano Olifant - kutlwano.olifant@inl.co.za The Star 14/03/13 Early Edition |
Crimes of the South African Police Service
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THE SA
POLICE SERVICE'S HEFTY CIVIL-CLAIMS COSTS
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• The figure for possible liabilities has quadrupled in the past six
years - from R5.3 billion in 2006 to 20.5bn for the 2011/2012 financial year.
This figure is confirmed by the SAPS's annual report.
• The R20.5bn figure constitutes about a third (32.8 percent) of the SAPS's annual budget. • The bulk of the figure was made up of civil claims against the police, amounting to R14.8bn. • This was a significant increase on the previous year (201/11), when the ministry had budgeted more than R11bn for possible liabilities arising from civil claims. • Of the figure above, claims amounting to R746m were finalised. • Of the 746m, R85m was paid as compensation. By Babalo Ndenze The Star 12/03/13 Early Edition |
Crimes of the South African Police Service
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‘Victim’
sues police minister
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He alleged he was intimidated into signing a statement that had been
drafted by a policeman and was forced to witness another man being beaten.
YOUNG Limpopo man who alleges a policeman had hit him on the ear so hard that his eardrum burst is suing the minister of police for R1.7 million damages. The claim by 22-year-old Marthinus Vorster of Phalaborwa was postponed indefinitely in the North Gauteng High Court but the minister was ordered to pay the wasted costs. Vorster alleged in court papers he had been arrested without a warrant in April 2010 and taken to the offices of the Hawks in Polokwane where he was assaulted, sworn at and insulted. He claimed he was refused legal representation and forced to answer questions under duress. According to Vorster he was beaten and assaulted during the interrogation and forced to admit guilt on various allegations. He alleged he was intimidated into signing a statement drafted by a police officer and was forced to witness another man being beaten. He was allegedly assaulted again before his constitutional rights were finally read to him for the first time about 12 hours later. Vorster only met his legal representatives the next day at the offices of the Hawks in Polokwane, but claimed his lawyers were forced to leave the room before they could consult. He was thereafter transported to Hoedspruit where he was locked up with various other inmates, who were allegedly encouraged by the police to assault him. Vorster claimed he and other accused were thereafter ordered to point out certain locations to the police and make false statements. He appeared in court for the first time and found out what he was being charged for 50 hours after his arrest. He claimed his constitutional rights had been infringed by the cruel, inhuman and degrading manner in which he was treated and detained and that he had been forced into implicating himself in various crimes. A medical doctor said in a report a hole in Vorster’s eardrum was still visible three weeks later and he would probably have to undergo surgery. The police in court papers simply denied all allegations. By Ilse de Lange The Citizen 05/03/13 |
Crimes of the South African Police Service
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Death
was accidental, cop claims
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SIVIWE Ndyoki was set to know today if magistrate Anita Snyman would
grant him bail.
Yesterday, the 28-year-old police detective constable appeared at the Brakpan Magistrate’s Court for his formal bail application. He has pleaded not guilty to a murder charge, escaping from lawful custody and attempted murder. It has been alleged that Ndyoki shot and killed Ekurhuleni metro police officer Popi Maseko, who had responded to an accident scene that Ndyoki was involved in. Maseko was with a male colleague on their way to Pholosong Hospital in Tsakane to have the constable’s blood drawn after a breathalyser test showed that he was drunk. Taking the stand in courtroom A, Ndyoki testified he had been told by the officers that he’d be taken to the police station. However, the two metro cops drove towards the hospital and an argument broke out between him and the front passenger (a male metro cop) who requested a R150 bribe. “I told him that he is mad. He produced a firearm and pointed (it) at me. I realised I was in possession of my service pistol, which I took out to defend myself as I was taught as a policeman,” he said. Ndyoki said Maseko, who was driving at the time, and a passenger who was with them, had remained quiet during the argument. He said the passenger sitting next to him grabbed his hands when she realised that he was reaching for his service pistol. “We struggled with the gun and two shots were fired. All this happened fast and I was scared.” Ndyoki said he was afraid and ran from the scene. He hid in the yard of a house nearby. The case was adjourned for the day. By Kutlwano Olifant and Msizi Nkosi The Star 22/02/13 Early Edition |
Crimes of the South African Police Service
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Cop
accused of stealing heist cash
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A SERGEANT who spent four weeks in hospital after he was shot in the
face in a shootout with members of the notorious blue light gang has been
accused of criminal acts.
The sergeant was with the Crime Intelligence Unit that nabbed Neo Mokone two years ago. Mokone, an accomplice of blue light gang ringleader William “King of Bling” Mbatha, was captured at a China Mall robbery in Joburg. The ensuing shootout and high-speed chase claimed the lives of two people. A businessman had just been robbed of R30 000 cash before the shootout, and the sergeant is accused of stealing the money because his colleagues battled to arrest the gang. A departmental investigation against the sergeant has been going on since last March. A colonel from the Hillbrow cluster is probing the case against him. The sergeant was shot in the cheekbone, damaging the hearing in his left ear and blinding his left eye. The sergeant said the colonel had opened a case against him for an unlicensed firearm for which he knew nothing. “The colonel called me to a meeting and told me to admit to having the money or be a witness to say I saw the other officers who were on duty (exchanging money),” he said. Last June, the sergeant and three other officers who were fingered in the crime by the colonel filed a grievance letter to the provincial head of crime intelligence. The complaint related to intimidation and defamation of character. The findings for the grievance stated the allegations had no legal proof and the matter was referred to the office of the provincial commissioner. The officer, *Pule, who led the operation that captured Mokone, said it made no sense how an officer would endanger his life if he was corrupt. Mokone was sentenced to 36 years in prison last month. Spokeswoman LieutenantColonel Katlego Mogale had not responded to questions sent to her by time of publication. *Not his real name By Mpiletso Motumi - mpiletso.motumi@inl.co.za The Star 19/02/13 Early Edition |
Crimes of the South African Police Service
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Cop
accused of stealing heist cash
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A SERGEANT who spent four weeks in hospital after he was shot in the
face in a shootout with members of the notorious blue light gang has been
accused of criminal acts.
The sergeant was with the Crime Intelligence Unit that nabbed Neo Mokone two years ago. Mokone, an accomplice of blue light gang ringleader William “King of Bling” Mbatha, was captured at a China Mall robbery in Joburg. The ensuing shootout and high-speed chase claimed the lives of two people. A businessman had just been robbed of R30 000 cash before the shootout, and the sergeant is accused of stealing the money because his colleagues battled to arrest the gang. A departmental investigation against the sergeant has been going on since last March. A colonel from the Hillbrow cluster is probing the case against him. The sergeant was shot in the cheekbone, damaging the hearing in his left ear and blinding his left eye. The sergeant said the colonel had opened a case against him for an unlicensed firearm for which he knew nothing. “The colonel called me to a meeting and told me to admit to having the money or be a witness to say I saw the other officers who were on duty (exchanging money),” he said. Last June, the sergeant and three other officers who were fingered in the crime by the colonel filed a grievance letter to the provincial head of crime intelligence. The complaint related to intimidation and defamation of character. The findings for the grievance stated the allegations had no legal proof and the matter was referred to the office of the provincial commissioner. The officer, *Pule, who led the operation that captured Mokone, said it made no sense how an officer would endanger his life if he was corrupt. Mokone was sentenced to 36 years in prison last month. Spokeswoman LieutenantColonel Katlego Mogale had not responded to questions sent to her by time of publication. *Not his real name By Mpiletso Motumi - mpiletso.motumi@inl.co.za The Star 19/02/13 Early Edition |
Crimes of the South African Police Service
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Cop
must pay fine after sex act filmed
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A POLICEMAN is to pay a R3 000 fine for filming a sexual encounter in
a toilet at the Elsies River police station.
After being found guilty of crimen injuria in the Western Cape High Court last week, Constable Jaede Fillies, 26, was yesterday sentenced to either a fine or six months behind bars. He opted for the fine. Judge Patricia Goliath sentenced him to an additional six months, suspended for three years. Fillies’s conviction stems from an incident in a toilet stall at the Elsies River police station on June 15, 2010. The woman involved – who was arrested along with her boyfriend in Viking Park, Epping, that night – claimed she was raped by policemen. Four SAPS employees were initially prosecuted, but one, Theo van Wyk, was discharged mid-trial. The other two, former warrant officer Theodore Syster and admin clerk Beverly Carelse, were acquitted on charges relating to the incident. Syster and Fillies were acquitted of rape. Fillies, however, was convicted for filming part of a sexual encounter between Syster and the woman, in her early thirties, on a cellphone without her knowledge or consent. It was distributed to several other police officers. In handing down her sentence, Judge Goliath said crimen injuria was a serious offence that needed to be seen against the background of the circumstances that night. Fillies had been an on-duty officer dressed in full uniform who had recorded the incident for his own gain, and had not intervened when the incident took place. He had also seriously violated the woman’s privacy. By Leila Samodien The Star 08/02/13 Early Edition |
Crimes of the South African Police Service
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Officer
in court over wife’s death
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AN ALEXANDRA police officer who gunned down his wife after she chose
to chew a SIM card instead of handing it over to him made a brief appearance
in the Johannesburg High Court yesterday.
Cingakufani Mbiza allegedly shot his wife Cinna Mcanda in the head during the early hours of Monday, May 28 last year after an argument over the SIM card. The 31-year-old policeman was talking to his wife on a street in Alexandra together with their two children when the incident happened. The talk escalated to an argument after she refused to give him the card. Mcanda instead chose to put the card in her mouth and chew it. Mbiza is alleged to have then used his service pistol to shoot his wife in the head in front of their two children. She died on the scene. Mbiza left the scene, leaving his children behind. They were found by a passing motorist and told the motorist their father had shot their mother. The children were later taken to a police station, and their father was arrested and charged with murder. The court, which is sitting in the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court due to renovations, postponed the matter to February 11 as there was another trial scheduled for the same courtroom. When a photographer started taking pictures of Mbiza, he asked in a confused voice: “Why are you taking pictures of me?” Mbiza remains in custody at Johannesburg Prison. By Mpiletso Motumi - Mpiletso.motumi@inl.co.za The Star 31/01/13 Early Edition |
Crimes of the South African Police Service
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PRISON
KILLING OUTRAGE (Part 1)
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Groenpunt warders in ‘necessary force’ plea
THE PRISONER who The Star’s journalists witnessed being assaulted by warders at Groenpunt prison is dead. Warders claim the man succumbed to injuries resulting from the “necessary force” they applied on him after he had tried to kill one of the warders. The as-yet-unnamed prisoner had been serving a 16-year sentence for robbery with aggravating circumstances and assault with intent to commit grievous bodily harm. Correctional Services deputy provincial commissioner for Free State and Northern Cape Grace Molatedi confirmed the prisoner’s death and the serious injuries suffered by his co-suspects during a fight with a group of warders on Wednesday. Molatedi said the three prisoners had attacked a warder after another inmate opened a case of robbery against the three. Warders then arrested them. It was while they were being taken to be charged that the attack occurred. “One of the offenders grabbed the warder and held him by his hands. Another offender started stabbing him while the third was busy hitting him with a padlock,” Molatedi said. A female warder raised the alarm, Molatedi said, and other warders came to his aid. “The other officials went in while the offenders were still busy assaulting one of them. They intervened and used necessary force to prevent the officers from further stabbing or possibly killing their own. It was in the process of them (warders) using the necessary force that the dead offender was injured,” Molatedi said. Seriously injured, the prisoner was taken to the Groenpunt prison’s hospital at about 1.30pm. He died two hours later. The two other prisoners have been admitted to an unidentified hospital, where their condition has been described as critical but stable. Molatedi said a fourth prisoner was also treated at the same hospital and discharged. The warder who was seriously wounded in the attack is still in hospital. Molatedi said the prison authorities were conducting an internal probe and had also reported the case to the police. The Star witnessed the attack, and lensman Itumeleng English took pictures of it as three warders took turns to form a circle, beating the man. Warders later surrounded English and reporter Kutlwano Olifant, subjecting them and two other photographers to an hour-long investigation. Cameras, memory cards and cellphones were confiscated. Warders then went and searched the memory cards and phones in their IT section. Eventually, the journalists had their belongings returned to them – but not the cameras’ memory cards. On Wednesday night, The Star editor Makhudu Sefara instructed the newspaper’s lawyers to demand the return of the journalists’ possessions and an apology for the manner in which his staff had been treated. By late last night, neither issue had been addressed. Sefara said he was not surprised. The SA National Editors’ Forum (Sanef) said yesterday it regarded the detention and searches of the journalists in an extremely serious light. “We believe that the deletion of photographs was an attempt to destroy evidence and merits charges of defeating the ends of justice against those responsible,” said Sanef acting chairman Nic Dawes. The journalists had been at the prison to accompany the parliamentary portfolio committee on correctional services and the select committee on security and constitutional affairs, which were investigating last Monday’s crisis when prisoners rioted. Hundreds of prisoners had to be transferred to other prisons as a result. Yesterday morning, portfolio committee chairman Vincent Smith lashed out at The Star for breaking an agreement not to take pictures and for suggesting that the warders had acted incorrectly. “Firstly, the facts are that a DCS (Department of Correctional Services) official was assaulted (stabbed in the neck and head) by three inmates during the oversight visit, and this is what caused the commotion yesterday at Groenpunt maximum centre. “Other DCS officials then reacted by restraining the three inmates involved. And yes, there might have been force in doing so. Your headline creates the perception that there was abuse perpetrated by DCS officials on inmates. “The portfolio committee was present, and it is inconceivable that any abuse could be contemplated or perpetrated in the presence of members of Parliament.” Last night, researcher Ruth Hopkins, of the Wits Justice Project, which investigates miscarriages of justice, said it was illuminating that everyone was focusing on the breach of an “agreement” and not the warders’ conduct. Attorney Thilevhali Radzilani, of Rajen and Naidoo Incorporated, said the prisoners had a strong case if they decided to press charges. He added that what happened at Groenpunt did little to promote and encourage rehabilitation. Cont 2/ , , , By Kutlwano Olifant and Baldwin Ndaba The Star 18/01/13 Early Edition |
Crimes of the South African Police Service
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PRISON
KILLING OUTRAGE (Part 2)
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Portfolio committee chair defends warders
The two other prisoners have been admitted to an unidentified hospital, where their condition has been described as critical but stable. Molatedi said a fourth prisoner was also treated at the same hospital and discharged. The warder who was seriously wounded in the attack is still in hospital. Molatedi said the prison authorities were conducting an internal probe and had also reported the case to the police. The Star witnessed the attack, and lensman Itumeleng English took pictures of it as three warders took turns to form a circle, beating the man. Warders later surrounded English and reporter Kutlwano Olifant, subjecting them and two other photographers to an hour-long investigation. Cameras, memory cards and cellphones were confiscated. Warders then went and searched the memory cards and phones in their IT section. Eventually, the journalists had their belongings returned to them – but not the cameras’ memory cards. On Wednesday night, The Star editor Makhudu Sefara instructed the newspaper’s lawyers to demand the return of the journalists’ possessions and an apology for the manner in which his staff had been treated. By late last night, neither issue had been addressed. Sefara said he was not surprised. The SA National Editors’ Forum (Sanef) said yesterday it regarded the detention and searches of the journalists in an extremely serious light. “We believe that the deletion of photographs was an attempt to destroy evidence and merits charges of defeating the ends of justice against those responsible,” said Sanef acting chairman Nic Dawes. The journalists had been at the prison to accompany the parliamentary portfolio committee on correctional services and the select committee on security and constitutional affairs, which were investigating last Monday’s crisis when prisoners rioted. Hundreds of prisoners had to be transferred to other prisons as a result. Yesterday morning, portfolio committee chairman Vincent Smith lashed out at The Star for breaking an agreement not to take pictures and for suggesting that the warders had acted incorrectly. “Firstly, the facts are that a DCS (Department of Correctional Services) official was assaulted (stabbed in the neck and head) by three inmates during the oversight visit, and this is what caused the commotion yesterday at Groenpunt maximum centre. “Other DCS officials then reacted by restraining the three inmates involved. And yes, there might have been force in doing so. Your headline creates the perception that there was abuse perpetrated by DCS officials on inmates. “The portfolio committee was present, and it is inconceivable that any abuse could be contemplated or perpetrated in the presence of members of Parliament.” Last night, researcher Ruth Hopkins, of the Wits Justice Project, which investigates miscarriages of justice, said it was illuminating that everyone was focusing on the breach of an “agreement” and not the warders’ conduct. Attorney Thilevhali Radzilani, of Rajen and Naidoo Incorporated, said the prisoners had a strong case if they decided to press charges. He added that what happened at Groenpunt did little to promote and encourage rehabilitation. By Kutlwano Olifant and Baldwin Ndaba The Star 18/01/13 Early Edition |
Crimes of the South African Police Service
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Officers
in court over bribe claims
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LAST week, two Sandton police officers pulled over a motorist, claimed
she had drugs in her car and forced her to drive to an ATM to extort money
from her.
Just four days later, police officers from the same station were involved in a mysterious accident in an Audi R8 that saw the businessman driver and a police officer killed. Police claimed they had found dagga in the car when they pulled it over. Lieutenant-Colonel Lungelo Dlamini said the two constables implicated in the ATM incident, Linda Mlambo and Mahlang Shaku, appeared in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court on charges of corruption yesterday. Dlamini said it was alleged that on January 6, the two policemen pulled over a woman, and – similarly to the incident involving the Audi R8 – she was accused of having drugs in the car. The officers then took away her driving licence and forced her to drive to an ATM in Sunninghill Village. A source told The Star the woman was pregnant and CCTV footage caught the officers forcing the woman to draw the money. She withdrew R1 000. The men were arrested this week and Dlamini said they were released on R3 000 bail each and would appear in court again on February 20 . By Angelique Serrao - angelique.serrao@inl.co.za The Star 18/01/13 Early Edition |
Crimes of the South African Police Service
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‘Assault,
torture of inmates rife in prisons nationwide’
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THE ASSAULT and torture of prisoners is part of a pervasive pattern in
what appears to be a nationwide epidemic of warder-on-inmate violence.
It is occurring in prisons from Mafikeng to Mangaung, from Diepkloof to Durban, from Port Elizabeth to Pollsmoor and from Grootvlei to Groenpunt. Rooigrond prison inmate John Banda, for example, was shot by a warder with a rubber bullet inside a Mangaung prison cell in 2009 after returning from the exercise yard to find other inmates had set his cell alight. “The securities (sic) were shooting in the street (corridor). They locked eight of us in a cell. I tried to tell the warder* I wasn’t involved with the burning, but he wouldn’t listen and threw teargas under the door. “He put the nose of his gun through the peephole and shot me under my navel. Another warder* pushed me against the door frame and shocked me twice with a shield. “While I was lying on the floor, a security* beat me in the face with the back of his gun, assaulted and kicked me. Then they took us where the CCTV cameras can’t see you, tied our hands behind our backs, sprayed us with fire extinguishers and kicked us.” Banda was taken to the prison hospital and operated on before being locked in isolation cells for three days, without being charged with any offence. He has the medical records to prove that a bullet left “a 12cm-long tunnel” in his abdomen. In a country where torture is currently not a crime, stories like Banda’s are not unique. This culture of violence and impunity among prison officials is exacerbated by the fact that the Correctional Services Act permits the use of restraint mechanisms such as electronically activated stun belts, electric shock shields, leg irons, belly chains and batons. In addition, the Correctional Matters Amendment Bill does not deal with a key aspect of detainees’ experience – the use of force by correctional officials or their training in the use of restraint equipment. The legislation permits the use of internationally condemned equipment that can be employed deliberately to violate inmates’ rights. The infamous tonfas, donkey piel or baton, widely accepted as having a legitimate law enforcement function, can easily be abused in the absence of regulations governing its use. For example, when a blunt force soft-tissue head injury is recorded as the cause of death, it’s often consistent with baton abuse. “Warders regularly complain that they don’t feel confident using batons because they’re not trained to distinguish between minimum and maximum force,” noted Just Detention International’s Sasha Gear. Airport heist accused Uakarajee Maundu, 40, released on bail in May last year from Medium A’s awaiting-trial section of Johannesburg Prison, said: “Every day I saw warders beating up inmates for no apparent reason.” According to Sbu Mntambo, a former inmate of KwaZuluNatal’s Eshowe Correctional Centre, the most common torture method was beating inmates under their feet with the tonfas. “Even so, the strip searches were the very worst thing that happened to me inside. The warders made us strip naked and lie on the wet concrete floor in a long chain. “You were forced to have someone’s head in your arse and your head in someone else’s arse. If you raised your head, they’d hit you with a tonfas.” Similar search methods employed during prisonwide mass assaults by warders using shock shields at Port Elizabeth’s St Albans Prison resulted in former inmate Bradley McCallum successfully prosecuting South Africa at the UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva. “At Mangaung,” Banda recalls, “warders often called the special ‘securities’ who came with dogs, shock shields and guns. They made you take off your clothes and wet you – the shock is much more powerful when you’re wet… They wore balaclavas so you couldn’t see their faces.” The Wits Justice Project (WJP) has received similar reports from prisons around the country. Raphaely is a member of the WJP, which investigates miscarriages of justice. * Warders’ names are known to the WJP. By Carolyn Raphaely The Star 18/01/13 Early Edition |
Crimes of the South African Police Service
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Warders
seen beating inmate
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But lensmen’s photos seized at Groenpunt prison
WE CAN’T show you the pictures, but we can tell you what we saw. The minute we arrived at the Groenpunt Correctional Centre maximum-security entrance in the Free State, prison warders were putting on their shields and bullet-proof vests and rushing to units housing high-risk prisoners. There was some commotion, and members of the parliamentary portfolio committee on correctional services made their exit. They crisscrossed paths with armed warders who hurriedly headed in the other direction, invading the office they had been observing. The portfolio committee left. Then, through the fence, we saw a mob of warders assaulting a man dressed in orange garb – apparently a defenceless prisoner – who squirmed and groaned in pain. We don’t know who he is, or what happened to him afterwards. But we saw them passing the man around in a circle, brutally beating him. As cameras clicked away, capturing the action, the men in brown continued to beat the prisoner. Then they took him away, and came for us. What happened next was an hour-long traumatic experience that left us feeling like terrorists. “What are you doing?” asked an armed warder dressed in brown uniform. His colleagues joined him and they blocked our car. “Please get out of the vehicle,” said one of the warders. There were three photographers, including one from The Star, and a reporter from The Star. With an army of armed warders surrounding us, the photographers were ordered to delete pictures they had taken, capturing the beating we had just witnessed. Our cameras were confiscated, our cellphones too. A camera left with us by an official from the portfolio committee was also seized. We were ordered into Correctional Services cars and taken to an administration block, where we were lined up and body-searched. It was humiliating and terrifying. Shaking in fear, we could see other warders peeping through the door. For about an hour, we stayed in that room, defenceless and without a word on what would happen next. Unbeknown to us, our phones, cameras and memory cards were being surveyed by the prison’s IT people. And when the cameras were returned, all data, including pictures unrelated to the Free State prison facility, had been deleted. During this process, The Star’s journalist was taken to the women’s toilets to be body-searched. We co-operated under duress. Our belongings were returned, but not one of the photographer’s memory cards. Officials took us back to the main hall, telling us we had contravened the law, so should now do what we were told. Back at the main hall, the portfolio committee media briefing had been under way for a while. We couldn’t stay as we felt haunted by the events. Soon afterwards, we received confusing calls on our cellphones, which led us to believe officials were interfering with our calls. The Star team went to the prison at the invitation of the portfolio committee, which was touring the facility following the recent rampage by prisoners who set fire to the admin block and cells. Nine officials and 50 offenders were injured. The Star understands that both the Groenpunt head and the area commissioner have been placed on precautionary suspension pending the outcome of a probe, which is being led by the deputy regional commissioner of the Eastern Cape. Correctional Services regional commissioner for the Free State and Northern Cape Subashni Moodley said photographers had violated an earlier agreement not to move from where they were stationed or take pictures. She said her officials deleted only pictures that were taken at the facility and handed memory sticks back to the team. When The Star editor Makhudu Sefara told her that her officials had deleted all pictures, including unused images unrelated to what happened at Groenpunt, she said she was merely repeating what officials had told her. “Your officials are evidently misleading you,” said Sefara. To which she retorted: “I was not there. You were not there. I am just telling you what I have been told.” When asked about a memory stick belonging to photographer Itumeleng English, she said our team did not want to acknowledge ownership. It later emerged that the memory stick to which she referred did not belong to our photographer. When Sefara told her about the alleged assault of a prisoner by a group of officers, her cellphone battery died. Messages that were left were not returned at the time of publication. By Itumeleng English, Kutlwano Olifant and Gabre Ngoasheng The Star 17/01/13 Early Edition |
Crimes of the South African Police Service
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Audi
death-crash bribe claim
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The IPID would like to hear from anyone who has experienced police
demanding on the spot bribes from motorists.
AREFF Haffejee, the driver of the Audi R8 sports car involved in a fatal collision that claimed his life and that of a police officer, may have been on his way to draw cash to “pay off” the officer. This latest claim has arisen after speculation that police had “misplaced” the docket. The Independent Police Investigative Directorate’s (IPID) spokesman Moses Dlamini would not comment on allegations that in the seconds before his fatal crash on Oxford Road in Rosebank, Johannesburg, Haffejee contacted a family member and asked them to meet him at an ATM to draw cash to pay off policemen who had caught him speeding. “I obviously cannot comment on the specifics of a case or an investigation, but there will obviously be a very thorough investigation. “Family and friends will be interviewed and obviously there will be other enquiries, but I don’t want to say that we will investigate phone records,” Dlamini said. The IPID spokesman also rubbished reports that the investigation docket had gone missing. “Contrary to what was reported on Wednesday I can confirm that we have the investigation docket and we are studying it. I don’t want to go into the case, but whatever the truth is, it will come out. If the police are being unfairly criticised that will come out, but if this crash was caused by any sort of corruption or bribery attempt then that will also come out.” Dlamini said that as well as any witnesses in the Haffejee case, the IPID would like to hear from anyone who has experienced police demanding on the spot bribes from motorists and who then drove their victims to banks or ATMs to draw cash bribes. Carine Conradie-Haffejee, Areff’s widow, said she was not aware of any calls her husband made in relation to a bribe. “I don’t think it can be true, his phone was off at the time of the accident.” Constable Goodman Lusibi was killed in the car crash with Haffejee. Lusibi’s unnamed partner claimed a small quantity of dagga was found in Haffejee’s car and that he had been placed under arrest and asked to drive to a police station. However, questions have been asked as to why Haffejee was not arrested and handcuffed as is normal procedure. Lusibi’s partner also claims that he chased the Audi, but other witnesses claim there was no high- speed chase and that Haffejee drove off without the other policeman trying to stop him. Finally questions have been asked about why Lusibi did not use his service pistol to force Haffejee to stop. Andre Snyman, of Internet crime forum eBlockwatch, said he had been alerted to a number of cases where police had pulled over motorists, sat in the car with them and then demanded a bribe after finding small amounts of dagga in the car. By Paul Kirk The Citizen 17/01/13 |
Crimes of the South African Police Service
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Traffic
cop suspended for provocative Facebook posts
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THE CERES traffic officer whose social media
comments apparently called for violence against farmers has been suspended on
full pay by the Witzenberg municipality.
His legal adviser, Carina Papenfus, said the traffic officer had been threatened repeatedly on social media and had also received threatening phone calls after his comments came to light. “Ek het nie tyd vir jou h****t nie,” said one post. Others referred to him as “K****r”, “Korrelkop twak” and someone with “BEE pigment”. Early this month, the senior officer commented on a Facebook thread that “It looks like we must again pick up our AK47s here in the f***ing Western Cape. I am sick of farmers and the DA.” At the time, Papenfus said the posts had been misunderstood and that he was reacting to a farmer allegedly shooting a worker’s dog. Witzenburg municipal manager David Nasson confirmed the officer had been suspended on Thursday, but declined to comment further on the hearings. A chairman for the official disciplinary committee would now be appointed. The committee would then submit a report to the municipality with recommendations about what action to take against the officer. But Papenfus said the Witzenberg municipality had acted prematurely in suspending the officer, as he had not been present at the hearing. “Given the fast pace at which they are prosecuting the matter, the municipality should have given the officer an opportunity to attend the hearing,” she said. Papenfus said the officer was unable to attend the hearing as he was at a pre-scheduled medical appointment in Worcester at the time. “The process will have to run its course,” said Nasson. “We will be appointing a chairman for the disciplinary committee soon.” By Jan Cronje The Star 16/01/13 Early Edition |
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