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POLICE INJURED: A police officer investigates the
accident scene in which a truck that was carrying officers from Siyabuswa
police station veered into the bushes off Moloto road. Picture: FATI MOALUSI
Police have launched an investigation into the cause of the road accident on
Moloto road in which 22 police reservists and an officer were seriously
injured.
All the injured were taken by ambulance to nearby hospitals. However, one of
the injured had to be air-lifted from the scene.
Const Sam Shibambo, the spokesperson for Mamelodi police station, yesterday
said the police constable together with police reservists were on their way
back to Siyabuswa from Pretoria when the accident occurred on Tuesday night.
“Part of our investigation is to determine what caused the driver to lose
control of the vehicle. The investigation will also determine if the cause was
a mechanical fault or human error,” said Shibambo.
Shibambo said the police accident investigation unit was already probing a
possible case of reckless and negligent driving.
Initial investigations revealed that the police truck veered out of control and
crashed into a thicket in a ditch at the side of the road.
This place on Moloto road is considered a “black spot”.
A TOP attorney who specialises in firearms
matters is to sue the police for damages following his arrest on charges of
defeating the ends of justice last Friday.
Martin Hood has consistently over the years
been a thorn in the side of police on issues relating particularly to the
Firearms Control Act, the need for gun owners to re-apply for their licences
and the shambles at the Central Firearms Registry.
He is the legal representative of the South
African Gun Owners’ Association.
Mr Hood said on Sunday: "I represent a
client who reported the loss of his firearm when he was mugged. My client is a
professional (a practising psychologist) who wanted me to prepare his statement
for lodging with the South African Police Service (SAPS), because my client had
heard a number of reports that the SAPS automatically arrest and charge people
for negligent loss of a firearm irrespective of the circumstances. I might add
that my experience is similar too.
"When my client went to lodge the
statement with one of my junior attorneys, he was harassed and intimidated by
the detectives at Fairland police station. Fortunately, my junior attorney
managed the situation and they withdrew in good order."
He explained that after that the police
contacted his client requesting further information and when "he went down
to the police station to give them further information and he was again bullied
and harassed by the investigating officer and the lieutenant in charge of
detectives at Fairland police station".
Mr Hood said he arranged with the
investigating officer to meet him at the station last Friday morning to find
out what further information was needed.
"I spoke to the investigating officer
who wanted to know where my client was and I indicated that it had not been
discussed that he would be present. I asked the officer what information was
necessary and he could not or would not tell me.
"The situation deteriorated to a point
where I was accused of shielding my client and a statement was made on a number
of occasions, including in the presence of two of my attorneys who I summonsed
to be witnesses, that my client had no constitutional rights and that he was
obligated to comply with the request for information by the SAPS even if it
meant incriminating himself.
"The situation deteriorated to the
extent where I was arrested for defeating the ends of justice, because I would
not bring my client to the police station and because I indicated that my
client would not provide any further information unless I had the opportunity
of discussing it with him."
Mr Hood said the police believed that
everybody was obliged to make statements, even if that meant they could
incriminate themselves and that they had to do so without legal representation.
"This is an abuse of the police powers
of arrest, and my arrest was in my view malicious and the actions of the police
fundamentally undermine the basic principles of our criminal justice system.
"I have already discussed the
circumstances of my arrest with two senior counsel and it follows that I will
be instituting action for damages and an apology."
Attempts to secure police comment were
unsuccessful.
January 28 2013, 07:35
Attorney Martin Hood. Picture: SUNDAY TIMES
A TOP attorney who specialises in firearms matters is to sue the police
for damages following his arrest on charges of defeating the ends of justice
last Friday.
Martin Hood has consistently over the years been a thorn in the side of
police on issues relating particularly to the Firearms Control Act, the need
for gun owners to re-apply for their licences and the shambles at the Central
Firearms Registry.
He is the legal representative of the South African Gun Owners’
Association.
Mr Hood said on Sunday: "I represent a client who reported the loss
of his firearm when he was mugged. My client is a professional (a practising
psychologist) who wanted me to prepare his statement for lodging with the South
African Police Service (SAPS), because my client had heard a number of reports
that the SAPS automatically arrest and charge people for negligent loss of a
firearm irrespective of the circumstances. I might add that my experience is
similar too.
"When my client went to lodge the statement with one of my junior
attorneys, he was harassed and intimidated by the detectives at Fairland police
station. Fortunately, my junior attorney managed the situation and they withdrew
in good order."
He explained that after that the police contacted his client requesting
further information and when "he went down to the police station to give
them further information and he was again bullied and harassed by the
investigating officer and the lieutenant in charge of detectives at Fairland
police station".
Mr Hood said he arranged with the investigating officer to meet him at
the station last Friday morning to find out what further information was
needed.
"I spoke to the investigating officer who wanted to know where my
client was and I indicated that it had not been discussed that he would be
present. I asked the officer what information was necessary and he could not or
would not tell me.
"The situation deteriorated to a point where I was accused of
shielding my client and a statement was made on a number of occasions,
including in the presence of two of my attorneys who I summonsed to be
witnesses, that my client had no constitutional rights and that he was
obligated to comply with the request for information by the SAPS even if it
meant incriminating himself.
"The situation deteriorated to the extent where I was arrested for
defeating the ends of justice, because I would not bring my client to the
police station and because I indicated that my client would not provide any
further information unless I had the opportunity of discussing it with
him."
Mr Hood said the police believed that everybody was obliged to make
statements, even if that meant they could incriminate themselves and that they
had to do so without legal representation.
"This is an abuse of the police powers of arrest, and my arrest was
in my view malicious and the actions of the police fundamentally undermine the
basic principles of our criminal justice system.
"I have already discussed the circumstances of my arrest with two
senior counsel and it follows that I will be instituting action for damages and
an apology."
Attempts to secure police comment were unsuccessful.
Social and Economic Rights Institute (SERI) lawyer Nomzamo Zondo was
arrested on Thursday as she was assisting informal traders in Johannesburg's
inner-city. While informal traders are still fighting Mayor Parks Tau's
Operation Clean Sweep, battling for the right to make a living and have their
rights protected, Zondo's arrest shows just how far the police are willing to
go. As it turns out, very far. By THAPELO LEKGOWA & GREG NICOLSON.
Zondo is one of SERI's lawyers who regularly represent those whose
rights have been denied by a system skewed against them. The Constitutional
Court ruled on Thursday that the City of Johannesburg could not stop traders
from returning to their places of work. Thousands of informal traders have been
cleared off the streets after Operation Clean Sweep saw Metro Police
confiscating goods and allegedly assaulting them for trading.
SERI has been involved in the case and Zondo was helping some of the
traders. They were jubilant after the ruling and according to Phumlani Ndlovu,
deputy chair of the South African Informal Traders Forum, they were even giving
away goods for free. The City has said it will continue to crack down on
trading (only those traders deemed legal and part of the case can return to
their stalls) and Metro Police reportedly assumed that they had started working
again.
To stop the trading, Metro Police shot rubber bullets, said Ndlovu,
injuring four people. The traders called Zondo for help. When she tried to
intervene she was allegedly assaulted and arrested by the cops. Zondo was
supposed to be on TV on Thursday night for an interview regarding the informal
traders win. Instead, she was locked up after an apparently brutal arrest.
Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) spokesperson Wayne Minaar
said she was arrested on charges of obstructing justice and assisting traders
to act against officers. "JMPD will continue with its legal mandate to
clear and observe traders until advised otherwise by the legal department of
the City of Johannesburg," said Minaar.
Late on Thursday evening, SERI's Kate Tissington said that apparently
Zondo was being denied bail. She hopes a prosecutor is available so that Zondo
can get bail. (Zondo has a 5-month old baby that she is breastfeeding.)
SERI has before accused the Metro Police of brutally arresting people
with impunity during Clean Sweep. In a chilling press release two weeks ago,
the organisation detailed the story of Belinda (not her real name). “On Friday
at around 12:00 Belinda and a group of other traders were approached near Kerk
Street by more than 30 JMPD officers. Belinda saw JMPD officials chasing people
away and taking bribes. Belinda also saw them assault another female trader by
kicking her with booted feet. She took photographs of both these incidents on
her cell phone. Another female trader reported being hit, slapped and sworn at
by the police,” said SERI.
The account continued: “The JMPD officers approached Belinda, who took
the photos, and confiscated her cell phone, saying that ‘she was making as if
she was a journalist’ and must go home. When Belinda approached them to ask for
her phone back, they told her that she was under arrest because 'it is illegal
to take photos of the police doing their job'.”
SERI accused the police of violence and xenophobia. “The police then
drove around with Belinda and a number of other arrested traders, and she
witnessed JMPD officers confiscating mannequins outside a clothing shop, and
the owner paying money to the officials to return them. Eventually they were
driven to the JMPD station at Faraday Street where they were handcuffed with
their hands behind their backs, spat on and further verbally and physically
assaulted. Throughout this ordeal, the traders were subject to xenophobic
abuse. One trader was told that that the JMPD 'would drag her with the car like
the other guy from Maputo'. Belinda was told that 'all of this is Mandela's
fault for having married Graca,'” said SERI.
The Constitutional Court disagreed with a South Gauteng High Court
ruling last week that found in favour of the City. Some of the traders will be
allowed to go back to the streets. But the issue, and the allegations of police
violence, will surely return to court. DM
Update: Zondo was released late on Thursday night on R500 bail and
ordered to appear in court on Friday.
Photo: Nomzamo Zondo at Marikana. She was also the attorney for the families
of the Marikana deceasedXRead next
Durban - The SAPS can never be credible if those in charge are
implicated or investigated for fraud, corruption or any other wrongdoing and
get “shielded” by their seniors.
This is according to the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), which was
reacting to reports that KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner, Lieutenant-General
Mmamonnye Ngobeni, is facing an internal disciplinary investigation.
According to the police, the investigation was prompted by an
Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) report.
Ngobeni’s troubles date back to when she testified before the Moloi
Commission in May 2012, in an inquiry that sought to establish whether Bheki
Cele, when he was national police commissioner, was fit to hold office.
Cele had been suspended by President Jacob Zuma the previous year after
two reports by Public Protector Thuli Madonsela on his alleged flouting of
tender processes in two lease deals worth R1.6 billion.
In the wake of the release of the Moloi report on the Cele matter, the
Daily News’s sister paper, Sunday Tribune, reported that Ngobeni’s husband’s
birthday party in 2011, was paid for by Durban businessman Toshan Panday.
Panday was investigated and charged with a R60 million corruption case
involving an alleged accommodation tender scam during the soccer World Cup.
Later, it was reported that there were attempts by top police officials
to stymie an investigation into Panday by Major-General Booysen, the Hawks KZN
head.
The charges against Panday were provisionally withdrawn in 2013 because
of problems with evidence.
Police pursued disciplinary charges against Booysen linked to his
alleged failure to act against members of the Cato Manor serious and violent
crimes unit for their alleged excessive use of force.
But an internal inquiry in September cleared him of any wrongdoing in
this regard.
National police spokesman, Lieutenant-General Solomon Makgale, confirmed
the probe into Ngobeni was prompted by the Ipid report. “Based on our own
disciplinary procedures, we are required to institute an inquiry to determine
whether the allegations have merit.”
Makgale did not comment when asked who would handle the internal
investigation, and if Ngobeni’s presence in the SAPS during the investigation
would affect the process. He also did not say when the probe would be
completed.
ISS senior researcher, Dr Johan Burger, said the issue involving Ngobeni
and Panday was “wrong from the beginning”.
He blamed the national police commissioner, General Riah Phiyega, for
shielding Ngobeni.
“We want the courts to decide on this matter and if Ngobeni was to be
found guilty of wrongdoing, then Phiyega must explain her actions to renew her
contract despite the dark cloud hanging over her head,” Burger said.
Phiyega and Ngobeni could not be reached for comment. SMSes were sent to
their phones on Wednesday but were not answered.
The DA’s spokeswoman on policing matters, MP Dianne Kohler Barnard, said
she would like to see an independent person chairing Ngobeni’s matter.
Lt Krish Reddy the I/O in the Dr Bhavish Sewram
murder brings a handcuffed Rajivee Soni to court. File picture: Shan Pillay
Pietermaritzburg
- A policeman tried to plant drugs in a doctor's surgery at the behest of the
man accused of arranging the doctor's murder, the Pietermaritzburg High Court
heard on Wednesday.
Rajivee Soni stands accused of hiring hitmen to shoot dead doctor
Bhavish Sewran as he emerged from his surgery in May 2013.
He has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, and perjury, by laying
charges claiming that Sewran sexually assaulted him and sexually assaulted the
woman.
Warrant Officer Sutendran Naidoo told the court Soni suspected the
doctor of having an affair with his wife. Naidoo testified that he and Soni had
tried to discredit the doctor.
Soni allegedly laid false charges against the doctor, saying Sewran
sexually assaulted him and a woman.
Naidoo said Soni had bribed the woman to pose as one of his patients and
then claim Sewran fondled her breasts.
Also, Naidoo and another policeman had tried, but failed, to plant drugs
in Sewran's surgery.
Naidoo told the court they planned to arrest Sewran on a Friday evening
when he (Naidoo) was on duty at the Mountain Rise police station in
Pietermaritzburg.
When the officers tasked with arresting Sewran went to his surgery, they
found he still had patients to treat. Sewran agreed to go to the police station
himself with his lawyer to deal with the sexual assault charge.
In a separate trial, hitman Sabelo Dlamini was sentenced to 25 years in
jail for shooting and killing Sewran.
Durban Cops Paid Prostitute R50 for Oral Sex in a
Police Van
By S'thembiso Hlongwane on
June 10, 2014
A
schoolgirl prostitute told the Durban Regional Court on Tuesday that two police
officers were among her clients at the time she sold herself to pay for drugs.
One paid
her R50 for oral sex in a police van and an additional R50 to keep quiet about
it. She had sex with the other at a Durban police station.
She was
giving evidence in the trial of Dr Genchen Rugnath, his wife Ravina, and
Sandile Patrick Zweni, Nonduzo Dlamini, and Bhabha Dubazini.
They have
all pleaded not guilty to 156 charges, including assault, rape, sexual
exploitation of a child, and racketeering.
Girls as
young as 12 allegedly worked as prostitutes at a Durban hotel.
The girl,
now 19, said the police officer took her to Durban’s Blue Lagoon area some time
in 2010.
Asked by
Rugnath’s lawyer Arnand Nepaul during cross-examination about why she got R100,
she said: “This [extra] R50 was for me not to tell that I have been doing this
with the police officer.”
The
officer allegedly refused to let her go because “he wanted Sandile’s money. He
knew that Sandile was paying”.
In
previous testimony the girl told the court Zweni bribed police twice to release
her and other girls prostituting themselves.
She
denied that she had been arrested because the officer kept her in the front of
the van while looking for Zweni.
Nepaul
asked her about a statement she made to police in which she claimed she
solicited sex from a police officer at Durban’s Berea Road railway station.
When
queried about the officer she said she only remembered his name as Ngumisa.
“He was
working at Durban central [police station],” she said.
The girl
has alleged she worked for Zweni, whom the State has accused of operating a
prostitution ring from Rugnath’s hotel, the Inn Town Lodge.
The girl
previously told the court she was invited to stay at the Victoria Lodge hotel
while waiting outside a Durban library when she was 13.
Rugnath’s
hotel manageress Veena Budhram was initially charged in the matter but has
since turned State witness.
Rugnath
claims he knew nothing about prostitution at the hotel, located in Durban’s
Point Road area — known for its red-light activities — and left the running of
his hotel to Budhram.
The girl
conceded under cross-examination from Nepaul that she never solicited any
business at the Inn Town Lodge, but on the street. She would bring clients back
to the hotel where they paid R30, either to a receptionist or one of Zweni’s
“runners”. She said she knew the receptionist as “Auntie”.
The girl
told the court that in 2010 she was diagnosed as HIV-positive and had
tuberculosis. She said a sister at the KwaMashu polyclinic informed her of her
diagnosis.
Mahikeng
- A policeman shot dead his wife and 28-year-old son before killing himself in
Tloung Village, Mahikeng, North West police said on Tuesday.
On Saturday around 11.30pm, Warrant Officer Mogorosi Nthutang and his
wife apparently had an argument, Brigadier Thulani Ngubane said.
"It is alleged that a member of public order policing in Mahikeng, Warrant
Officer Mogorosi Nthutang, 47, killed his wife Meisie Nthutang, 41, and his son
Obolokeng Nthutang, 28, at their house...," he said.
Police were investigating a case of murder and suicide.
"The Provincial Commissioner Lt-Gen Zukiswa Mbombo expressed her
condolence to the family of the victims and urged the members to get assistance
using programmes that are available in the Police Service... when they are
experiencing challenges in their domestic environment."
A policeman shot and killed
a policewoman before turning the gun on himself, KwaZulu-Natal community safety
said on Saturday.
posted 143 days ago.
“The details of the incident are still scanty (sic)
but reports indicated that a male police officer, Constable Howard Ngcobo
stationed at Dukuduku Police Station on the south coast, went to the home of
female police officer, Constable Lindiwe Xulu. He allegedly opened fire on her,
killing her instantly,” said departmental spokesperson Sipho Khumalo.He said
while police were searching for Ngcobo, he was found dead with bullet wounds.
“It is believed that he
killed himself. At this stage the motive for attack on Constable Xulu has not
been established.”
The incident occurred on
Friday night. Community Safety MEC Willies Mchunu, condemned the incident and
urged police management to institute a probe into the shooting.
“We are very disappointment
at this development. Police officers are highly valued members of public
service charged with the delicate task of protecting communities,” Mchunu said
in a statement.
“In the recent past we have
been faced with the murder of police officers by criminals which we totally
condemn. But it is even more painful and very unfortunate when fellow police
officers turn against one another.
“We need to get into the
bottom of this incident so that we could fully understand what really went on
here.”
The report says the police accidents came at a cost of R52 million to
the provincial government.(SABC)
More than 20% of police vehicles in Gauteng were involved in accidents
during the 2012/13 financial year, a daily Afrikaans newspaper reported on
Tuesday.
The report says this came at a cost of R52 million to the provincial
government.
Gauteng community safety MEC Faith Mazibuko said in a written reply to a
question in the legislature that 2240 of the 11,147 police vehicles had been
involved in road accidents, and that 375 damaged cars had been written off.
During the same period, three police vehicles worth R618,000 were
stolen, although they were later recovered, she said.
Chumani
Maxwele is reportedly suing the police department for R1.45 million after he
was apparently bundled into one of the cars in the convoy while jogging along
De Waal Drive in February 2010.
Meanwhile, settlement talks have hit a dead end in the civil case of a
jogger who was arrested for allegedly giving President Jacob Zuma's motorcade
the finger, a daily Cape newspaper reported on Tuesday.
Chumani Maxwele is reportedly suing the police department for R1.45
million after he was apparently bundled into one of the cars in the convoy
while jogging along De Waal Drive in February 2010.
According to the report, he was arrested, detained for 24 hours, and
later released without having appeared in court or being charged.
Maxwele denies ever making an indecent sign, saying he waved his hand
because the sirens were making an excessive noise.
The newspaper reported that the case was to have been heard on Monday,
but was put on hold as the parties tried to settle the matter, but could not
reach an agreement.
It was not clear whether the matter would now go to court.
