OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Wednesday
A FORMER murder and robbery unit detective has described on public television how members of the disgraced North East Rand dog unit set their dogs on him when he criticised the animals for not being able to find a gun magazine.
Braam van Wyk, a former detective with 18 years’ service, told the Special Assignment programme how the dogs savaged him after their handlers took offence at his comments. His disclosure follows only a week after the SABC broadcast shocking scenes of police dogs turned loose on illegal immigrants in January 1998.
Six members of the North East Rand dog unit have been suspended and are still in police custody. They are expected to apply for bail on Friday.
Van Wyk said he called the police dog unit in June 1998 to find a missing gun magazine in his garden. After 20 minutes of searching, he asked if they had brought the right dogs with them.
”The policemen got angry, turned their dogs loose on me, and screamed ”rim hom, ja, rim hom, ja!”
According to Van Wyk the policemen beat him with batons when he tried to fend off the dogs, shouting ”leave the fing dog!”
Judging from the photographs of the wounds Van Wyk sustained during the attack, he was lucky to survive, Beeld newspaper reported.
”If it wasn’t for my wife, who screamed hysterically, I don’t know what would have happened. I thought I was dying.”
Van Wyk filed a lawsuit and turned down R5000, which the police offered as compensation. But 18 months after the attack the case has still not gone to court, Beeld said.
According to Van Wyk, some of the offending policemen have also been promoted in the meantime.
Meanwhile, a KwaZulu-Natal man is suing the Minister of Safety and Security for R700000 for injuries he sustained after having a police dog set on him after he was apprehended by the Durban dog unit on suspicion of driving a stolen car, e-tv reported.
Charges were later dropped against Bongani Bekebu, who said he lost his job and spent three months undergoing skin grafts in hospital. The incident happened in June 1998.