Stolen cars may be driven into the Soweto police pound, but it is not always possible to drive them out, reports Sibusiso Nxumalo
A MAIL & GUARDIAN investigation has uncovered a racket in which staff at the police-run Soweto Vehicle Storage Unit strip and sell off parts from stolen cars stored there after being recovered.
Members of the public who claim their cars have been cannibalised have laid charges with police. In one case the car was seen in the pound in perfect condition and later discovered to have been stripped.
There have also been accusations that pound staffers require bribes before releasing vehicles.
During the investigation, a WM&G reporter walked around the pound and witnessed how a kombi was stripped over a period of two days.
The reporter saw how a Jetta, registration number NSB 461T, untouched except for a broken quarter-glass on Tuesday, had lost all its wheels and various engine components by the following morning. The owner, Dirk Heydorn, said the car had been stolen outside Wits University the previous Wednesday. He had not been notified by police of its recovery.
The WM&G also witnessed personnel at the pound apparently in the act of loosening components of other cars. Asked what he was doing, one became angry and started shouting at the reporter.
Over a week, the WM&G also observed how a Caravelle microbus was stripped of its wheels and perched on four car batteries. Also taken from the car were various accessories, including the dashboard and engine components.
At least two members of the public have laid charges against the Soweto vehicle storage unit. One of them, Diepkloof resident Stephen Khoza, claims that his car was confiscated by the police on suspicion that it had been stolen. On discovering that his car had been stripped of all its wheels while in the pound, he refused to retrieve it and consulted lawyers. “They drove it into the compound, they must now drive it out,” Khoza said.
Another car-owner who has laid charges, Diepkloof resident Jabulani Nxumalo, said he had seen his minibus in perfect condition in the pound after being informed that it had been recovered.
When he went to the unit three days later, he found that the vehicle had been stripped of all its seats and its gearbox. “The cop who recovered it admitted that the minibus had been driven into the camp, but told me that I would have to tow it out,” said Nxumalo.
Nxumalo, Khoza and other vehicle owners interviewed at the pound also complained of delays by the pound staff in handing over the vehicles, ostensibly on the grounds that they were still verifying ownership. One owner said he had been visiting the pound over a two-month period, but to no avail.
“In the week that my car has been here it has been stripped of two wheels and a battery” said Philip Dlamini. “The longer they keep it here the more they can steal from it.”
Dlamini’s sentiments were echoed by another Sowetan, who would only give his name as “Semenya”. “A friend told me I would never get my car out of here if I did not bribe the policemen” he said. After trying to retrieve his car for over a month, Semenya said he had finally paid a R1 000 bribe. “I had to get it out before they took everything,” he said.
On at least one occasion tensions between owners and pound staff have erupted in a fist fight. Dube resident Abe Motsiri said he had lost his temper and had taken a swing at a police officer who tried to get a bribe out of him. “He wanted me to give him R1 000 00 to get my car out,” complained Motsiri. He has since recovered the car and plans to bring legal action against the police.
Complainants who approached the station commander with their problems said they had been told he could not be held responsible for thefts. Said Nxumalo: “He said he works here from eight till four, and cannot be held responsible for things that happen at night.”
Kindiza Ngobeni of the Policing Project at Wits University said there were indications that certain police in the Soweto area were in cahoots with car racketeers. “This has made prevention of crime in the area almost impossible,” he added.
Said Khoza: “The only people that gain from what is going on in that camp are the thugs who don’t mind paying for their stolen cars and parts. Innocent people suffer.”