Eddie Koch and Mehlo Mvelase
Police either colluded in the Christmas Day massacre at Shobashobane or are guilty of negligence in the run-up to the attack that left 19 people dead in the KwaZulu-Natal village, according to a television documentary to be broadcast by SABC’s Agenda programme on Sunday night.
The documentary includes strong criticisms from Captain Shaun Vollenhoven, former commander of the police station near Shobashobane, of the co-ordination of the security operation in the area before the
Vollenhoven, who has been transferred from the police station at his own request, feels that his efforts to introuduce new and more community-friendly policing methods in the area had been consistently undermined.
“The old police structure which we are trying to change now is still not ready for change,” says Vollenoven in response to queries from the film crew about lack of co-ordination in the way police behaved before and during the
The documentary, made by Mail & Guardian Television with the SABC, includes an in-depth examination of how the massacre took place and explores the possibilities for restoring order to the region.
One of Vollenhoven’s key criticisms relates to the lack of comunication beween the police station and various other security operatives in the area. He was, he said, unable to provide an explanation for the fact that an Internal Stability Unit patrol, which was supposed to have been on duty in the area, was not present at the time of the attack in Shobashobane. He was also not informed about houses being searched and weapons allegedly being confiscated in Shobashobane on the day before the attack.
“I was not aware of the search by outside units,” says Vollenhoven. “This creates a perception that police are siding with one
The documentary points out that these anomalies occurred even though African National Congress leaders and independent monitors had informed senior police officers that an attack on Shobashobane could be expected in the Christmas period.
Deputy President Thabo Mbeki has asked Neville Melville, police reporting officer for KwaZulu-Natal and former advocate, to head up a special task force that will probe allegations of police complicity or negligence regarding the massacre. Members of the Investigative Task Unit, a crack team of detectives that reports directly to Mufamadi, will help with this probe.
Police Commissioner George Fivaz has also sent a top team of 34 detectives to Port Shepstone to investigate the massacre, headed by Pretoria detective Bushie Engelbrecht. Fivaz announced in a press statement that extra informers would be sent into the area and that the use of extra powers, granted to the provincial commissioner under the Police Act, was also possible.
Engelbrecht’s men began interviewing eyewitnesses and survivors of the massacre on Tuesday this week. The team has issued warrants of arrest for four suspects believed to have been involved in the attack.
In addition, a National Public Order Policing (Pop) Unit will be set up in Natal under command of former ISU commander Vernon Hunter. The Pop teams will set up temporary bases in various hotspots of the province and will concentrate on the South Coast.
These moves represent an effort by the national police commissioner — along with Mufamadi’s office — to stamp their authority on the province. The Inkatha Freedom Party has insisted policing is primarily a provincial matter and has already signalled its intention to oppose “unilateral” intervention by national authorities.
“We are worried by Fivaz’s comment that more spies will be sent into the province as we have been victims of unlawful espionage on our officials by members of the intelligence agencies,” said IFP secretary general Ziba
The Inkatha leader says the new measures on the South Coast could amount to anti-Inkatha intervention by central government in the province. “We are not saying the central government should not be involved in security matters in KwaZulu-Natal. But Schedule Six of the Constitution says policing is also a provincial issue and as long at it [national intervention] is done in a unilateral way this is invariably a partisan approach.”
The action by the national police authorities and Jiyane’s response indicates that the Shobashabane killings may have initiated a major conflict between the central and provincial governments over who will control the way KwaZulu-Natal is policed.
The Mail & Guardian/Agenda Newsline documentary will be broadcast on CCV at 7.30pm on Sunday.