Cops are gatvol
Police - from top brass to hands-on investigators - are "gatvol" with the judicial system repeatedly failing them in their endeavours to fight highly organised crime.
So says Gauteng SAPS Deputy Commissioner (crime prevention), Bushie Engelbrecht.
Engelbrecht was commenting on the fact that several of the 24 cash heist suspects arrested at the Mvoti toll gate in KwaZulu-Natal this week were already out on bail for similar offences, including the recent brazen heist at Johannesburg International Airport. At least five of the suspects are out on bail for alleged offences.
In one case, Shikunwela (Fox) Sithole, 31, was granted bail of R20 000 in connection with the airport heist. He was immediately re-arrested in connection with a cash heist in Cleveland last year, but again granted bail. It is believed that he was also granted bail in connection with a cash heist in Klerksdorp.
Hamilton Mazibuko, 32, was arrested in July in connection with a heist in Mothutlung in the North West Province. It is not clear whether he escaped or is out on bail. Others out on bail are Mpho (Faith) Tsotensi, 29, Bongani Tshabalala, 26, and Johannes Fono Langa, 34.
Another suspect, Ernest Nolangamandla, 29, was wanted for allegedly having previously escaped custody.
Amid tight security, the 24 suspects appeared in the Durban's Magistrate's court on Thursday charged with murder, robbery, kidnapping, and illegal possession of firearms - all relating to incidents in the Umfolozi area on Monday.
But provincial head of the Serious and Violent Crime Unit, Dir Johan Booysen, said his unit, assisted by counterparts in Gauteng and the Eastern Cape, was investigating possible links to as many as 20 crimes around the country, including cash-in-transit heists and robberies at pension pay-out points.
Booysen said while the arrest of the 24 alleged gang members was a huge breakthrough, it did not mean a drastic drop in heists would follow.
"Not all the gang members were arrested and they might start their own cells. But we have strategies in place and we will make sure the rest of the gang is brought to book," he said.
Booysen agreed that corruption and police collusion were hampering efforts to bring heist gangs to book.
Three policemen were recently arrested in connection with $14-million (about R107.8 million) stolen from a police safe after money from the Johannesburg airport heist was recovered.
Booysen said Welcome Shange, the brother of one of the men arrested this week, was a policeman attached to the Organised Crime Unit. He was arrested about three weeks ago, allegedly for his involvement in a cash-in-transit heist in the Eastern Cape.
This week's bust in KwaZulu-Natal follows the recent SAPS announcement of a 74.1 percent increase in cash-in-transit robberies reported in the past year - 385 from April last year to March this year. Of even more concern, though, is the continued escalating levels of these and associated crimes.
"There's been a significant increase since March. In my opinion the early release of prisoners, as well as the Satawu security guards' strike, have contributed to this increase," said Engelbrecht.
On the repeated granting of bail to serious and violent crime suspects, Engelbrecht said policemen were getting "gatvol". "It is happening over and over and over again. And once guys like this get bail, they are at it again, carrying on their bloody business."
A major contributing problem, said Engelbrecht, was associated institutional corruption - the bribing and intimidation of policemen, correctional services staff, court officers, prosecutors and sometimes even magistrates.
"They (organised crime suspects) pay huge amounts. They have access to that kind of money. It's a reality we can't ignore," said Engelbrecht.
"The intimidation factor is also there. We lose cases due to witnesses disappearing, getting killed. Policemen and prosecutors also are threatened, or worse, their families."
Such intimidation was also difficult to prove, and sometimes also subtle - "like just a simple whispering, like 'I'll get you'," said Engelbrecht.
"It's how you respond that's important. We should be fearless and not succumb to all these things, but that's not always the case," said Engelbrecht.
He warned that unless the problems were addressed soon, South Africa would be overrun by organised crime.
"It's an onslaught. Judicial bodies, government itself, has never been subject to organised crime like this before. It's hit us like a storm. It's big. It's organised, and involves groups from all over the world.
"We have to adapt to fight it. We've had some good successes, but we need to see it through to the end, and any person in any kind of authority, who is in any way involved, needs to get put away for a very long time."
Engelbrecht said as a policemen, it was inevitable to be confronted "very often by a criminal trying to corrupt you, offering to pay you off, sometimes with sums like R50 000, and even in one recent case R500 000".
He said despite very low salaries, he knew many policemen who never fell for these offers, no matter what the amount.
"They turn around and arrest these guys. And that's what we need - integrity. And it should be rewarded . . . I can find no justification for the low salaries that police earn.
"And it's obvious - if a person's battling to get by, they will be more easily tempted by offers of huge sums of money, sometimes simply for not doing something . . ." Read more
So says Gauteng SAPS Deputy Commissioner (crime prevention), Bushie Engelbrecht.
Engelbrecht was commenting on the fact that several of the 24 cash heist suspects arrested at the Mvoti toll gate in KwaZulu-Natal this week were already out on bail for similar offences, including the recent brazen heist at Johannesburg International Airport. At least five of the suspects are out on bail for alleged offences.
In one case, Shikunwela (Fox) Sithole, 31, was granted bail of R20 000 in connection with the airport heist. He was immediately re-arrested in connection with a cash heist in Cleveland last year, but again granted bail. It is believed that he was also granted bail in connection with a cash heist in Klerksdorp.
Hamilton Mazibuko, 32, was arrested in July in connection with a heist in Mothutlung in the North West Province. It is not clear whether he escaped or is out on bail. Others out on bail are Mpho (Faith) Tsotensi, 29, Bongani Tshabalala, 26, and Johannes Fono Langa, 34.
Another suspect, Ernest Nolangamandla, 29, was wanted for allegedly having previously escaped custody.
Amid tight security, the 24 suspects appeared in the Durban's Magistrate's court on Thursday charged with murder, robbery, kidnapping, and illegal possession of firearms - all relating to incidents in the Umfolozi area on Monday.
But provincial head of the Serious and Violent Crime Unit, Dir Johan Booysen, said his unit, assisted by counterparts in Gauteng and the Eastern Cape, was investigating possible links to as many as 20 crimes around the country, including cash-in-transit heists and robberies at pension pay-out points.
Booysen said while the arrest of the 24 alleged gang members was a huge breakthrough, it did not mean a drastic drop in heists would follow.
"Not all the gang members were arrested and they might start their own cells. But we have strategies in place and we will make sure the rest of the gang is brought to book," he said.
Booysen agreed that corruption and police collusion were hampering efforts to bring heist gangs to book.
Three policemen were recently arrested in connection with $14-million (about R107.8 million) stolen from a police safe after money from the Johannesburg airport heist was recovered.
Booysen said Welcome Shange, the brother of one of the men arrested this week, was a policeman attached to the Organised Crime Unit. He was arrested about three weeks ago, allegedly for his involvement in a cash-in-transit heist in the Eastern Cape.
This week's bust in KwaZulu-Natal follows the recent SAPS announcement of a 74.1 percent increase in cash-in-transit robberies reported in the past year - 385 from April last year to March this year. Of even more concern, though, is the continued escalating levels of these and associated crimes.
"There's been a significant increase since March. In my opinion the early release of prisoners, as well as the Satawu security guards' strike, have contributed to this increase," said Engelbrecht.
On the repeated granting of bail to serious and violent crime suspects, Engelbrecht said policemen were getting "gatvol". "It is happening over and over and over again. And once guys like this get bail, they are at it again, carrying on their bloody business."
A major contributing problem, said Engelbrecht, was associated institutional corruption - the bribing and intimidation of policemen, correctional services staff, court officers, prosecutors and sometimes even magistrates.
"They (organised crime suspects) pay huge amounts. They have access to that kind of money. It's a reality we can't ignore," said Engelbrecht.
"The intimidation factor is also there. We lose cases due to witnesses disappearing, getting killed. Policemen and prosecutors also are threatened, or worse, their families."
Such intimidation was also difficult to prove, and sometimes also subtle - "like just a simple whispering, like 'I'll get you'," said Engelbrecht.
"It's how you respond that's important. We should be fearless and not succumb to all these things, but that's not always the case," said Engelbrecht.
He warned that unless the problems were addressed soon, South Africa would be overrun by organised crime.
"It's an onslaught. Judicial bodies, government itself, has never been subject to organised crime like this before. It's hit us like a storm. It's big. It's organised, and involves groups from all over the world.
"We have to adapt to fight it. We've had some good successes, but we need to see it through to the end, and any person in any kind of authority, who is in any way involved, needs to get put away for a very long time."
Engelbrecht said as a policemen, it was inevitable to be confronted "very often by a criminal trying to corrupt you, offering to pay you off, sometimes with sums like R50 000, and even in one recent case R500 000".
He said despite very low salaries, he knew many policemen who never fell for these offers, no matter what the amount.
"They turn around and arrest these guys. And that's what we need - integrity. And it should be rewarded . . . I can find no justification for the low salaries that police earn.
"And it's obvious - if a person's battling to get by, they will be more easily tempted by offers of huge sums of money, sometimes simply for not doing something . . ." Read more
posted by Jopie Fourie at 8:19 AM
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