Much has been in the news recently regarding the protest action at the Douglasdale Police station in January this year.
Allegations of racism made against top management and grievances allegedly not being addressed were cited as the reason for the illegal protest action on the part of many Douglasdale SAPS members.
Over the past 2 weeks, meetings have been held at both Douglasdale and Randburg Police Stations to communicate the details and outcome of the incident, and how it will affect the communities involved.
The allegations of racism were found to have no basis and subsequent to a meeting between station management and the complainants, criminal charges of intimidation were laid against the complainants.
Approximately 80 members at Douglasdale were then issued with dismissal notices.
These dismissal notices were, after an appeal in terms of Section 41 of the SAPS Act to the Police Minister, Nathi Nhleko, withdrawn by him and the members were issued with final written warnings (which will only be on their record for 6 months) and all were transferred out to other police stations.
I find it unbelievable that the Police Minister, although given discretion by the Police Act, has withdrawn all these dismissals without consulting SAPS management structures in Gauteng, on which could possibly be withdrawn and which should, under no circumstances be withdrawn.
SAPS members who instigated illegal protest action at Douglasdale have now been redeployed to many other police stations in the Province. There is a high probability that they will cause trouble wherever they go.
Even though members accused of racism have been cleared, the Police Minister has passed on these charges to the Human Rights Commission. Is this a witch hunt?
I sincerely hope that the bad judgement shown by Minister Nathi Nhleko in this matter does not come back to bite him.
Media enquiries:
Kate Lorimer MPL
DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Community Safety
083 642 2727
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Gung-ho Orlando Cops Shooting Unacceptable
The Orlando SAPS members who ” mistakenly” shot Mduduzi Nkosi 3 times on Monday evening must be disciplined.
Two officers, dressed in plain clothes in an unmarked vehicle approached Mduduzi’s vehicle; who upon thinking he was being hijacked drove off. Following the arrival of a JMPD vehicle, Nkosi then climbed out of his car and told them his driver’s license was in his car, was then shot him 3 times by the police who were dressed plain clothes who failed to establish his identity or identifying themselves.
Shooting an unarmed, unidentified man, without identifying oneself as a police officer is unacceptable. The SAPS alleged that a murder suspect with them had identified Nkosi’s car as a place where weapons were hidden. One would assume this information should be verified in some way before shooting someone. There should be procedures in place when handling a matter such as this.
This gung-ho attitude on the part of police cannot be allowed to go unchallenged. IPID must be called in to investigate the matter and this should have been explained to Nkosi’s family by the Orlando Station Commander on trying to lay charges against the officers involved.
It is highly suspicious that cartridge casings were allegedly removed from the street and no crime scene analysis was conducted. Are the SAPS protecting their own in this matter?
Sloppy police work and an abuse of power are evident in the way this matter was handled. These officers must be held to the highest account for not following procedure. It is only through luck that Mduduzi Nkosi survived.
Media enquiries:
Kate Lorimer MPL
DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Community Safety
083 642 2727