Paul Kirk
Following a Mail & Guardian expos of claims of cruelty, sadism and sexual assault at the Pretoria Police Dog School last week, one of the most senior female police officers in South Africa has been tasked with investigating allegations against the school.
Until this week the investigation into brutality against female and black recruits as well as police dogs was being handled by a senior male officer from the Pretoria police dog unit.
This week the investigation was formally handed over to Assistant Commissioner Susan Pienaar from the national headquarters of the South African Police Service (SAPS). Pienaar is a lawyer by training and is the highest-ranking operational policewoman in the country.
When the M&G attempted to contact Pienaar for comment, officials in her office said she was unable to speak to the media. They confirmed she will be gathering statements from police dog handlers across the country. These statements may or may not corroborate claims of cruelty levelled against several police dog school instructors. So far numerous statements have been obtained by police, all of which allege horrific cruelty on the part of several low-level instructors at the school.
The charges centre on the victimisation of policewomen and black members of the SAPS as well as mistreatment of the dogs issued to them.
Although the alleged events occurred between three and four years ago, they came to light only last week, in six sworn affidavits collected by police.
Female candidate dog handlers have allegedly been physically abused and sexual favours including oral sex demanded by their instructors. Black policemen have allegedly been singled out for severe physical training intended to break them.
The instructor who is most deeply implicated in the allegations is a Captain Spiere Linde. Linde has very little experience as a dog handler and has spent most of his police career as an instructor at the dog school.
Linde is alleged to have variously shot at or close to police dogs in order to make them vicious. He is also alleged to have intentionally driven over a police dog. This incident and several others are detailed in sworn affidavits in possession of Pienaar.
Linde is alleged to have been drunk at the time he supposedly drove over the dog in a 4×4 bakkie.
When the M&G attempted to interview Linde, switchboard operators at the dog school said he had taken leave due to stress. He has not however been suspended nor has any disciplinary action been taken against him yet.
This week the inspectorate of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said based on what the M&G has reported so far, they were anxious to begin their own investigation. The inspectorate is the law enforcement arm of the SPCA.
Carlos Fernandes of the SPCA said he would be contacting the investigating officer in the case and would seek to establish whether a prosecution in terms of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act is justified. Police dogs, as well as pets and livestock, are protected by this Act.
Fernandes said he saw no reason to justify the treatment that is alleged to have been meted out to police dogs.
The police dog school trains police dogs and handlers for the SAPS, and has also trained the dogs and dog handlers of several other African countries most notably Malawi and Mozambique.
It is situated at Roodeplaat, on land where former apartheid chemical weapons guru Wouter Basson conducted experiments to make weapons of mass destruction.