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Gods of the Road
| Date: |
19 October 2003 12:00 |
| Show: | Carte Blanche |
Diepsloot, Johannesburg 3rd May 2003
Dan: 'He was kicked in the face like a soccer ball and he was so dizzy that he didn't know what was happening.'
Diepsloot, Johannesburg 3rd May 2003
Woman: 'The police fired two shots into the air to chase everyone away from the scene.'
Diepsloot, Johannesburg 3rd May
Dan: 'When he tried to get onto his hands and knees they hit him from behind with a gun.'
Sunnyside, Pretoria 19th September 2003
James: 'When I then fell onto the road I was punched and kicked.'
The clips you've just seen come from people who fear for their jobs, their future and in some cases their lives. That's why some of them can't be identified.
Diepsloot, Johannesburg 3rd May 2003
Dan: 'In our region it is like a mafia. I was afraid if I spoke out, I would be victimised.'
Sunnyside, Pretoria 19th September 2003
James: 'I said, 'Well why I am I being charged?' He said, 'You will find out in court'. '
These interviews were done earlier this week and in each case fingers were pointed at the Tshwane Metro Police.
William Baloyi (Mayoral spokesperson Tshwane Metro Council): 'This is not during the Scorpion era of the Apartheid Police. No, no, this is not during that particular era where people will fear the organs of State.'
William Baloyi, Mayoral spokesperson of Tshwane may believe so, yet all these people came forward following last Sunday's exposé on Carte Blanche.
It shook the capital to its foundations and brought structures within the Metro Police to the brink of collapse.
But the Carte Blanche investigation began in August, when we revealed that the Tshwane Metro Police and a company called Diphororo Technologies had entered into an illegal gun deal.
Carte Blanche 10 August 2003
Ruda: 'The most basic question to ask is surely: ' Do you have a license to deal in firearms?' It seem that the Metro Police, keepers of law and order in our capital, didn't ask that.'
In the process Metro Police chief Mpho Mmutle and Metro management paid more than two million rands for pistols that have until today not been delivered.
But from then on things just went from bad to worse.
Carte Blanche 11 Oct 2003
Last week we exposed the abuse of high-speed reaction cars by the three deputy chiefs, Kassie Coetzer, Pius Mokhini and Boetie Sekhudu.
But this was just the tip of the iceberg. The ratepayers forked out R1.2 million for these Volvos. Yet, by the end of the programme, it was obvious that the disregard for public money seems to be standard practice.
We also revealed how exam marks were juggled, how two of the three deputy chiefs had lied in their job applications and how none of them met the basic requirements for the positions they now hold.
Carte blanche 11 October 2003
Ruda: 'It's an ongoing saga, with corruption, fraud, negligence, incompetence and nepotism sponsored by the ratepayers.'
The programme was enough to finally kick the Council into some kind of action.
The Commercial Crime Unit was immediately called in to prevent the destruction of evidence and on Wednesday an inter-departmental team was commissioned to investigate the debacle.
William Baloyi: 'We have decided that we are going to investigate the whole Metro Police Department, ranging from the management and also to appointment and training.'
And William Baloyi is adamant that there will be accountability.
William: 'We are also looking at the role of the chief of the police because he is also the accounting officer.'
Since the last broadcast the Tshwane Metro Police have allegedly targeted policemen who they believe have leaked information to the media. However, they're not the only ones to have felt the wrath.
Philip Gohl (DA Councillor Tshwane Metro Council): 'Immediately after the broadcast last week Sunday I got a phone call that I must be careful because certain people have their knives out for me.'
DA Councillor Philip Gohl appeared on last week's show, saying Council's Procurement Committee had been misled by the Metro Police when they motivated the purchase of the three Volvos.
Philip: 'And on Tuesday I got two anonymous phone calls saying that I had been followed the previous night and that photographs had been taken of me.'
Later that day Philip spotted the tail in the street where he lives and approached them.
Phillip: 'They told me they were from the Metro Police and that they had been instructed to follow me and see who I was going to see and who was coming to see me.'
Zaa: 'Who gave them those instructions?'
Phillip: 'Allegedly the Deputy Chief, Kassie Coetzer. '
Zaa: '...Had told them to follow you?'
Phillip: 'Ja.'
But Deputy Chief Kassie Coetzer denied the allegations when we called him.
Kassie Coetzer: 'I have no knowledge of such instructions, definitely not.'
But did he request that they do such a thing?
Kassie: 'Never.'
William: 'The first caller was just saying to me that, 'We have sent you warnings, through whatever has happened. And we think that you will stay away from...' - this time they said - ' the Metro Police'. '
Spokesperson William Baloyi received three death threats the day after a group of men tried to force his 17-year-old daughter into a car.
William: 'I just took it as petty crime. But later, yes, I did get some nasty calls. But you see when they started being connected to what was actually happening, you obviously take them seriously.'
While there were death threats and intimidation felt within council, Carte Blanche received several claims of bullying tactics from the public by the Tshwane Metro Police.
Just less than a month ago James Short stopped at a café in Sunnyside where the Metro Police were attending a call.
When a bystander hurled comment, James was falsely accused. But he denied their claim and the officers began verbally abusing him.
James Short: 'So I said 'Can I have your name please?' 'No'. I went round the back of the car and took the car number and that was it. They jumped out of the car and they attacked me.'
He was kicked and punched and finally handcuffed.
James: 'And then they said to me. 'Get up.' Of course, my hands behind my back, there was no way and also I have a false leg. I said to them, 'I cannot get up, you must help me up'. '
James suffered an anxiety attack, but police ignored his pleas for help until the next morning when he was finally taken to hospital. 24 hours later the court dismissed the case against him.
In the past 18 months 41 civil cases have been laid against the Tshwane Metro Police. There've also been numerous criminal cases lodged, including 12 for assault and two for grievous bodily harm.
But not all incidents are reported. This Tshwane Metro policeman - we will call him Dan - took part in an impromptu raid at the Diepsloot informal settlement in Johannesburg....
Commanding the group was this man, Simon Bhebe.
Dan (Tshwane Metro Police Officer): 'It was chaos, there was no procedure. Suddenly the door was smashed in and the six people sleeping inside were thrown out.'
What happened next is the reason why Dan has come forward.
Dan: 'I was shocked. The suspects were told to lie on the ground and Bhebe, another commander, informers and volunteers began kicking them in the head like you would kick a soccer ball. There was this one suspect... when he tried to get up he was bashed on the back of the head with one of these LM Rifles.'
The injured suspects - allegedly Mozambicans - and the goods confiscated at the shack, were thrown onto the back of a bakkie and taken to the Erasmia Police Station. But the police there refused to book them into the cells, saying they needed emergency treatment.
So they were taken to the Pretoria West Hospital. The only evidence that the incident took place is this inscription in the hospital's report book. There's also a vague reference in the occurrence book at the Metro Police.
In Diepsloot the neighbours were reluctant to give us detail of what they had witnessed that night.
On Friday we received information that Commander Bhebe's temporary appointment has been revoked by Council, in the interest of good governance and ethical conduct, but this decision was not related to our investigation.
Good governance and ethical conduct ...
IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER:While every attempt has been made to ensure this transcript or summary is accurate, Carte Blanche or its agents cannot be held liable for any claims arising out of inaccuracies caused by human error or electronic fault. This transcript was typed from a transcription recording unit and not from an original script, so due to the possibility of mishearing and the difficulty, in some cases, of identifying individual speakers, errors cannot be ruled out.
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