Rehana Rossouw
ONE of Cape Town’s most notorious gang leaders, Rashied Staggie, was caught red- handed breaking into a Woodstock home last year. Last week, he walked free out of court after the charges against him were dropped.
The police investigating officer could not produce the three witnesses lined up to give evidence against Staggie, leader of the Hard Livings Gang, and regional magistrate P de Villiers withdrew the charges.
This failure to punish gangsters in the Cape has left the police and affected communities frustrated and blaming each other for their shortcomings.
Staggie’s gang has allegedly been involved in a turf war for the past five years over the lucrative drug trade in the Cape which has seen scores of people killed and injured.
“The case against Staggie is definitely not finished,” emphasised Western Cape police representative superintendent John Sterrenberg. “The perception created in court last week is unfortunate, but we can bring Mr Staggie back to court as soon as we find the witnesses.”
Sterrenberg said the police were well aware that witnesses were often intimidated by gangsters into withholding evidence against them, but at the time Staggie was arrested there was no witness protection programme available.
A decision to place witnesses in protective custody could not be taken lightly either, Sterrenberg said. A witness who spent months in prison waiting for a case to come to court might end up sympathetic to the accused.
Ministry of Justice representative Barend Heystek said there was a witness protection programme in place which could be reached through the attorney general’s office. To his knowledge, no application was made to protect the witnesses meant to give evidence against Staggie.
‘The problem with witness protection is that it has its limits. Once the case is finalised, witnesses have to live in their communities where they are vulnerable to attack,” Heystek said.
The witness protection programme is being reviewed by a special unit which was established nationally.
Community crime prevention expert Willem Basson said he was amazed the police did not take extra precautions to ensure the three witnesses arrived at court.
“The only conclusion we can draw in this case is that there are corrupt policemen helping the gangsters reach the witnesses.”
Sterrenberg said there was no indication of corruption. If any were discovered, the police would not hesitate to take action against those involved.