Ngwako Modjadji
National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi is probing allegations of corruption, drunkenness, incompetence and maladministration at the Ennerdale police station, south of Johannesburg.
The investigation was launched this week after Ennerdale residents forwarded a complaint to Minister of Safety and Security Steve Tshwete regarding alleged corrupt practices at the police station.
Police officials in Pretoria confirmed this week that a special investigating team is to probe claims that senior Ennerdale police officials colluded with criminals, took bribes from them and helped them to avoid serious charges.
The investigation is expected to take up to six weeks to be finalised. The investigators will also probe allegations that police officials fail to investigate cases reported by the community because they are drunk during working hours.
Ennerdale police officials are also facing additional allegations of obstruction of justice after a number of dockets went missing and evidence were destroyed and discarded.
Station commander Barney Gordon was aware of the allegations, but said “allegations of police colluding with criminals are common charges levelled [at] the police”. He said he would have to investigate some of the complaints referred to Selebi before he could comment further. He had not responded by the time of going to press on Thursday.
One of the complaints relates to Norah Siasa, who was raped in the presence of her disabled husband and child in February last year. The rapist also stole Siasa’s home appliances.
According to community leaders, although Siasa’s ordeal was confirmed by a local doctor and she had provided the police with the identity of the suspect, no arrest has been made.
“I reported the matter to the police last year but the case never materialised because the people who raped me are always with the police. To date I’ve not heard anything from the police and the suspect is still roaming the street. The community has lost faith in the police because they are so incompetent and corrupt,” she says.
Siasa’s sentiments are echoed by other Ennerdale residents, such as Ellen Puza.
Puza says efforts by the community to help the police retrieve stolen goods have been thwarted.
In January last year, she says, “thieves broke into my house and stole my wheelbarrow and after a thorough search by the community it was found abandoned in one of the houses in the area”.
Puza says despite informing the police about the whereabouts of her wheelbarrow, the suspect was not arrested and the docket went missing.
Ennerdale residents have asked Selebi to close down or change the personnel at the police station.
They say if a solution is not found they will have no choice but to take the law into their own hands.