Charlene Smith
Should women stop on isolated roads for unmarked vehicles occupied by men who may or may not be wearing police uniforms? In a country where police vehicles and cars are routinely stolen and women are often forced off the road and gang-raped, I think any woman who stops her car in a lonely place is asking to become a statistic.
And so it was that last Wednesday when I was driving in pouring rain on the remote country road between Lenasia and Ennerdale, and a vehicle tried to force me off the road, I phoned 112 and asked them to put me through to the police. By the time someone answered, the actions of the white vehicle, MNY523GP had me terrified.
I could not see who was in the vehicle, but eventually it pulled sharply in front of me, forcing me to stop. A man in a brown uniform leapt out and began shouting and swearing at me. I yelled: “Who are you?” He ignored my question. I reversed and overtook the vehicle, which commenced chasing me.
By the time I got to the Ennerdale police station, I was crying, my mouth was dry and my heart pounding and its gates were bolted shut. I drove into the parking area of the Southern Metropolitan Council and was saying to 112, “get the police here” when two men and two women jumped out of the white car, called me an “f… white bitch” and tried to grab my cellphone.
The four refused to identify themselves. They twice threatened to handcuff me if I did not keep quiet. They demanded my licence, but would not let me get back into my car to get it. When a police van came alongside the fence, I was allowed, sobbing and incoherent, to get back into my car.
I told them I had previously been raped and knew of numerous incidents where women had been forced off the road or raped by police officers. There were no identifying marks on their vehicle. I told them I was a journalist and tried to write down the names I had seen on two cards, Mantombi S Mthimunye and Mygirl … a woman grabbed my pen and tried to tear the paper I was writing on.
The officer in the van left and another officer arrived with a Metropolitan Police badge. I asked his name. He said: “How many police vehicles are unmarked?” I said, “I don’t know.” He said: “Why should I give you my name, if you don’t know the answer?” Neither he, nor any of the four in the unmarked car, bore the name tags that police are required to wear.
I was given a ticket for having the old number plate and for speaking on my cellphone, and allowed to leave. When I stopped at a nearby service station, the same four swerved in front of my car. One had a large knife; another said, “Now you will suffer”, and they laughed. Then one of the officers hacked off my number plates, threw them in the boot of the car and let me drive off.
Johannesburg Metro Director of Internal Affairs, Willie van Rooyen said: “I’m disgusted. People who behave like this do not belong in this organisation. We will immediately investigate.” He said the vehicle was registered to a civilian living in Roodepoort, but the fine issued appeared to be from the Gauteng police.
George Raftopolous, chief director internal affairs of Gauteng Traffic, is now investigating the matter.
Can women protect themselves against this kind of harassment, or worse? Wayne Minnaar of the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police says “according to the law, a uniformed officer has the right to stop a citizen. That includes women in lonely areas or high-crime areas she must stop. We know there is a high rate of rape and that some of those who rape have been police officers, but women are not exempt from the law.”
Metro Police say they have been overwhelmed by complaints from the public about the new police force. On Wednesday last week when Smith first lodged her complaint, the Metro Police could not make outgoing calls their telephones had been cut off because the phone bill had not been paid.