The South African Police Service, where officers are usually drawn from the ANC’s former terrorist militia, Umkhonto we Sizwe, is becoming part of South Africa’s runaway crime problem. In a report released today by the liberal political society, the Institute for Race Relations (IRR) a whole series of crimes committed by police officers are enumerated.
Entitled, The broken blue line 2, the study draws from media reports of serious police crimes, such as murder, rape and armed robbery. Petty crimes were not taken into account, as the report states:
We are not concerned, for the purposes of this project, with allegations of corruption, petty harassment, or petty assaults by police officers. For example if a police officer solicited a bribe or roughed up a motorist such cases would fall outside of the scope of this project. The project is rather concerned with police involvement in serious and violent crime and seeks to track and record incidents where police officers plan and execute crimes such asrapes, murders, and armed robberies.
Between their previous report, Broken blue line 1, compiled in 2011, the IRR has again identified at least 100 crimes committed by policeman which could be seen to represent a pattern. Of the 100 crimes identified, the breakdown was as follows:
- 32 related to murders and attempted murders
- 22 related to armed robberies
- 26 related to rapes
- 20 related to other crime types ranging from torture to theft and burglaries
Rank Number of officers convicted Percentage of total
Major general 1 0%
Brigadier 10 1%
Colonel 21 1%
Major 10 1%
Lieutenant-colonel 43 3%
Captain 163 11%
Lieutenant 84 6%
Warrant officer 716 49%
Sergeant 267 18%
Constable 129 9%
Personnel officer 4 0%
Total convictions 1 448 100%
Here are some extracts from the report describing some of the more spectacular crimes committed by the “transformed” (affirmative-action) South African Police Service.
Rape
On 13th August 2013, the Cape Argus reported that a Cape Town police captain, accused of raping a sex worker, had been arrested. Moses Dlamini, a spokesman for the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID), said that a 26-year-old-woman was picked up by a policeman in a private vehicle on 3rd August. After negotiating a price for oral sex, the policeman allegedly changed his mind and demanded sex. When the woman refused, the policeman assaulted and raped her. After the incident, the woman escaped and reported the vehicle’s registration number
to the police. On 8th August, the policeman was arrested and held at the Claremont police station. He was charged with assault and rape in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court. The accused police officer was granted bail of R1 000 and ordered not to make contact with the victim, according to a Western Cape National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson, Eric Ntabazalila.On 5th September 2013,City Press reported that a constable based at the Macassar police station was accused of raping a 23-year-old woman in police cells on the 21st July. She was arrested for housebreaking and theft. Allegedly, the victim asked for toilet paper and the suspect gave it to her, after which he returned to her cell and allegedly raped her. When the IPID was informed of the incident, the police officer went off duty and disappeared for a while. The policeman was tracked down and arrested on 4th September. The constable appeared in the Somerset West Magistrate’s Court.
On 2nd April 2014, the City Press reported the arrest of a police constable and another man for allegedly raping a teenage girl in Vosloorus, Gauteng. The 19-year-old was walking with her boyfriend in Vosloorus when a VW polo stopped next to them and the occupants held them
at gunpoint. After the men took the couple’s cell phones, they told the boyfriend to leave and forced the woman into the car. The men stopped in an open field and the civilian started to rape the woman at the back of the car while the officer pointed his gun at her. Afterwards, the police officer raped her as well, according to IPID. The men then dropped her off at a taxi rank. The woman remembered the vehicle’s registration number and reported the incident to the police.On 13th December 2013, City Pressreported that a police constable was found guilty of raping sixteen women. On the 12th December 2013, the constable was convicted by the High Courtin Johannesburg on 35 of the 46 charges upon which he was tried. They include sixteen rape charges, nine kidnapping charges, seven of robbery, two of attempted robbery, and one of theft. He was arrested in July 2012. Between March 2011 and July 2012, he offered women lifts in his BMW before taking them to deserted areas to rape them. (Omitted from the report and from the City Press article is the fact that this black policeman preyed on white women in predominantly white areas, so most of these rapes were interracial. If they did not get into his car, they would be accused of racism.)
Murder and attempted murders
On 3rd February 2014, Independent Online reported that a police officer was arrested in KwaDukuza, in connection with the murder of two other police officers. The incident happened when four officers stopped at the side of the R74 in order to investigate a red car. Three men appeared from the bush and shot the constable and a student constable sitting in front of the police vehicle. One of the attackers jumped into the police vehicle and wrestled with one of the surviving officers for his firearm. The three men fled the scene when the fourth officer at the back shot at them. The 53-year-old-officer suspected of being involved appeared in the KwaDukuza Magistrate’s Court.
On 18th August 2014, The Citizen reported about the arrest of an advocate, an attorney, two businessmen, a former police officer and a policeman for the murder of Narend Anandrai. Mr Anandrai was shot and killed outside of his home in Havenside, Chatsworth, KwaZulu-Natal on March 2014. During the shooting, his car burst into flames, resulting in him being burnt beyond recognition. The motive for the killing was that Mr Anandrai lent R4.4 million to a small group of people. His debtors allegedly hired Gregory Pillay, a 37-year-old man from Chatsworth, to kill him. Police arrested this man in August and further investigation led to six more suspects. Among these was a member of the Public Order Police Unit in Durban who would face disciplinary charges which ran concurrently with his criminal charges. All six of the suspects appeared in
court on 18th August.On 1st March 2013, the City Press reported that eight police officers had been implicated in the killing of Mido Macia, an East Rand taxi driver. Macia (27), a Mozambican national, was tied to the back of a police van and dragged along the street in Daveyton. Due to his injuries, Macia died in the local police station’s cells later that day. According to IPID, the eight officers were charged with murder and appeared in Daveyton Magistrate’s Court.
On 24th March 2012, City Press reported the murder of a man by a policewoman in Letlhabile near Brits, North West. The 32-year-old policewoman poured boiling cooking oil on her boyfriend’s face, chest, and arms following a fight on 11th March. The man died of his injuries and the
policewoman was arrested and charged with murder.
Armed robbery
On the 11th January 2014, the Pretoria News reported that two policemen had been arrested
for robbing a Durban man of R500 000 at gunpoint. Fahim Essack, who owns a rice business, said that he was driving with close to R1 million, paid in cash by his customers, in the boot of his car. At 10pm, he was pulled over on the N1 by two Pretoria police officers in uniform driving an unmarked vehicle. They did a search of his vehicle and found the money in his boot. After they discovered it, they told Mr Essack that the money laundering units had to get involved. One officer travelled with Mr Essack to the police station while the other drove the police vehicle. After some time, the officer in the police car pulled over and said that he had been ordered to
count the money. As he counted the money, Mr Essack saw the officer hiding money behind the
seat of the car. When Mr Essack confronted him, the officer replied that they were going to take
half of the money. Mr Essack refused to negotiate, and this prompted the officer to threaten him
with his gun. Mr Essack said that at that point, he had no choice but to drive away. Both officers
were arrested at the Tshwane metro police headquarters in WF Nkomo Street after the police
conducted their preliminary investigation. They were to have the opportunity to explain why
they should not be suspended. The officers were faced with charges of corruption and armed
robbery and were to appear in the Pretoria North Magistrate’s Court.On 15th April 2013, the Cape Argus reported that two police officers were arrested in connection
with a robbery at a Chinese-owned business in Milnerton, Cape Town. Of six people who
participated in the robbery of a business on Marconi Road in Montague Gardens, two were
allegedly policemen. One of the robbers wore a police uniform while one of the getaway cars was
a police vehicle. According to police spokesperson, Lt Col Andre Traut, the six robbers fl
ed the scene in three vehicles, including a black Mercedes-Benz Vito bus. Flying Squad members, which were on patrol in Voortrekker Road in Belville, spotted the Vito and gave chase. They managed
to stop the vehicle and arrest the people inside. Lt Col Traut identified one of the suspects as a
31-year-old police constable. Lt Col Traut also confirmed that another police officer was linked to
the incident and arrested on Saturday the 13th April 2013. Four of the six suspects were arrested
and were expected to appear in court soon.On 8th January 2014, The Citizen reported that four North West police officers had been accused
of robbery and extortion. A warrant officer, and three constables allegedly robbed an Ethiopian
man of an undisclosed amount of cash at Karlin Park, Zinnaville, on 7th December 2013. When the
officers became aware that the man opened a case against them, they asked another Ethiopian
man to convince him to withdraw it, in return for which they would refund his money. Brigadier
Thulani Ngubane said that they allegedly gave the man R10 000 on condition that he would
not return to the police station and leave Rustenburg. The officers appeared in the Tlhabane
Magistrate’s Court.