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Bunking cops
| Date: |
27 August 2006 12:00 |
| Producer: |
Kate Barry
Kate Barry
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| Show: | Carte Blanche |
Being a policeman in South Africa is not easy. The chances of being killed on duty are high, but, with the recent spike in violent crime, the role of the police service is more important than ever.
Devi Sankaree Govender (Carte Blanche presenter): 'There are 122 000 police officers in South Africa. That means one policemen for every 395 citizens. If one policeman doesn't come to work, the load increases. So in this country every cop counts.'
While most are dedicated, there are some who simply bunk. The Rosebank police station in Johannesburg has been missing one of its members for many years now. Inspector Nazeer Rakmatullah has been a policeman for almost 28 years. But according to his colleagues he's been on stress leave for five years.
Senior Superintendent Vish Naidoo (SAPS spokesperson): 'Firstly, there's no such thing as stress leave in the police service.'
Senior Superintendent Vish Naidoo is the spokesperson for the national commissioner's office.
Supt. Naidoo: 'A person may book off sick from factors which relate to stress, but I think the leave that they would be granted - and a special application must be made for it - is called incapacity leave.'
Over the past five years Inspector Rakmatullah's been paid his full salary and been living in a police house for R200 a month. But he also owns a R450 000 house in Robertsham which he rents out.
Devi: 'Are you still entitled to a police house if you already own your own house?'
Supt. Naidoo: 'No, absolutely not! That's fraud.'
So what else has Nazeer Rakmatullah been up to while he's been sick? In this case the writing is on the wall. Secu-Afrika, formerly known as Al-Jihad Security Services, is a security company registered in the name of his late son, Tahir, but to all intents and purposes [it] is run by his father. We went to their offices in Rosebank, but found them empty. However, we did find some of his guards. This man confirmed that he works for 'Mr Raks' - as he calls him - at the amusement arcade at The Zone. And at this shopping centre in Randburg we found some more guards.
Hidden camera: 'Who's the boss of Secu-Afrika?'
Security Guard: 'Ah... Mr Raks.'
But according to the regulations of the SAPS, police members are not allowed to be involved in private security.
Supt. Naidoo: 'We regard those sort of jobs as jobs that would be in conflict of interest.'
Devi: 'To see what sort of service Secu-Afrika offered, we called Inspector Rakmatullah. We pretended that the Johannesburg Civic Theatre needed security. He arranged to meet with us to give us a quote, but when it came to the crunch he never arrived.'
Instead he sent two associates who said they had come as his representatives.
Associate: 'I am at the level of manager, our director being Mr Raks.'
On his business card he calls himself Adam, but on the quote he sent the Civic Theatre he asked for payment into his own bank account. Our search then took us into an unexpected area.
Devi: 'Nazeer has a second business. He owns this second-hand shop in Delarey - 'The House of Penny'. We came here to look for him, but we discovered that he doesn't actually work here; he just does the buying.'
We called the number on the card and asked Nazeer to come and buy some kitchen equipment from an internet café in Westdene that had closed down. This time he sent his brother.
Abdullah Rakmatullah: 'Normally both of us... he comes or I come.'
Hidden Camera: 'Are you in business together?'
Abdullah: 'Yes we are. Either he comes or I come.'
Supt. Naidoo: 'Owning a second-hand shop is also prohibited. You are not allowed to own a second-hand shop.'
We tried calling Nazeer.
Nazeer Rakmatullah: 'Hello.'
Devi: 'Hi. Can I speak to Nazeer Rakmatullah?'
Nazeer: 'Speaking.'
Devi: 'Hi, Nazeer. You are speaking to Devi Sankaree Govender from Carte Blanche. We want to speak about your company, Secu-Afrika.'
Nazeer: 'I don't have a company Secu-Afrika.'
Devi: 'So you deny having a company called Secu-Afrika?'
Nazeer: 'I don't want to say anything to you.'
So we approached him at his house.
Devi: 'We would like to talk to you about your company... the security company.'
Nazeer: 'There is no company. Thank you. If you don't mind, you're invading my privacy as well.'
Devi: 'So you don't own the company at all?'
Nazeer: 'I don't. Do your homework. OK?'
Devi: 'You're not involved with the company in any way?'
Nazeer: 'No. Do your homework.'
Devi: 'I have done my homework, that's why I am asking you... What about the House of Penny? Is that your company? Are you on stress leave, Mr Rakmatullah?'
Supt. Naidoo: 'There is a very good possibility that disciplinary action will be brought against him. The chances of him facing dismissal are quite great... also the process of recovering whatever money has been paid to him.'
Since 2002 Nazeer Rakmatullah has been paid well over half a million rand of taxpayers' money while also running his own businesses. But he doesn't seem to think he's at fault.
Nazeer: 'Maybe if you spent your time on crime and criminals, then that would serve a purpose. I think that is what is messing up South Africa. That is what we need. I have given 28 years of my life.'
Devi: 'We found another police officer who is running a private security company, but this one doesn't even bother to book off sick. He is based here at the Sandton police station and manages to run his own business during office hours.'
Inspector Ronald Chetty has been a policeman for 12 years and commands the liquor licence and drug offences unit. He also runs a company called Crime Detect, which is registered in the name of his wife, Renee, but she works for Discovery. The company address is also their home address in Bordeaux.
Devi: 'Once again we pretended we needed security for the Civic Theatre. We asked Crime Detect for a quote and inspector Ronald Chetty duly arrived.'
The meeting was at 9am, and Chetty arrived with two associates. At the time, he worked as a Sector Manager, which allowed him to leave the office whenever he wanted to. At this meeting he gave us his police business card, but the email address belongs to the security company.
Andy Miller (SAPU): 'The honourable Inspector must decide where he wants to be. He cannot work for the SAP and then try and punt his own business on a business card with the SAPS logo.'
Andy Miller is the chief negotiator of the South African Police Union, of which Chetty is a member.
Andy: 'He must decide where he wants to go. Either he runs his private business, or he works for SAPS. He cannot serve two masters.'
Inspector Chetty came to a second meeting at the Civic Theatre, where he admitted to being a policeman.
Chetty: 'I don't want my name to be there, because I am a cop.'
Hidden Camera: 'Okay.'
Chetty: 'But I do all the work. I do the operational part. I am in the field most of the time.'
When we asked how he was going to handle two jobs, he said he had enough spare time.
Chetty: 'I am on the road most of the time. It is not specific; I operate from the police stations in this area. I handle the Rosebank area, I handle Sandton and I handle Randburg. I am in the area. So what will happen - during the week I will be here three or four times just to show that I am overseeing this site. That is what will happen.'
Devi: 'How does someone with a full time police job find time to do other work?'
Supt. Naidoo: 'That's what I would like to know. Really... because at the end of the day the community at large suffers.'
So we tried to ask Inspector Chetty himself.
Devi: 'We would like to speak to you about your company, Crime Detect.'
Chetty: 'My company?'
Devi: 'Yes.'
Chetty: 'Well it is not actually my company... it is registered under my wife's name.'
Devi: 'But you do work for it during work hours. Am I right?'
Chetty: 'No, I don't do much work for it during work hours.'
He asked us to call him back in half an hour while he got permission to talk to us.
Chetty: 'No, I've spoken to my director and he says that if you have any questions that need to be asked you must direct them to superintendent Wilkens.'
Devi: 'Do you think these officers realise that what they are doing is wrong?'
Andy Miller: 'All the employees of the SAPS are well aware of the instructions pertaining to moonlighting. They have signed codes of conduct; they know what is right and what is wrong. There can be no excuse.'
But there are many policemen who moonlight as security guards. Several members from Silverton police station, including Inspectors Frans Prinsloo and Riaan Bekker stand guard outside Big Save in Waltloo (Pretoria) at closing time. Another sergeant agreed to talk to us on condition of anonymity. He said he can't survive without the R100 a day he earns here.
Sergeant: 'After deductions, I usually get out about R4 000 then I still have to pay my rent, I have to pay my car, I have to buy food. I just can't survive. How do you explain to a child that there will be no food, or shoes or clothing? I mean, she is still growing up. How do you look your wife in the eye and say there will be no food tonight?'
Devi: 'They feel the need to supplement their income so that they can stay within the service.'
Supt. Naidoo: 'Well, unfortunately the regulations and the instructions are very clear. You don't engage in any work for remuneration that is within that list of prohibited jobs.'
In New York they've found a way around this with the NYPD Paid Detail Unit. Any company can hire an off-duty uniformed police officer as a security guard. It costs $30 an hour and the minimum shift is four hours.
Devi: 'Could that work here?'
Supt. Naidoo: 'There would have to be a feasibility study so that we could understand how that would impact on our organisation as a whole.'
Within hours of our interview at police Head Office, Inspector Rakmatullah was forced to resign. Inspector Chetty and the others are still under investigation.
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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