NO CAKE-WALK AS RANGER GETS EXTREME FOR … · proven to be a way of life in ... Mazimba and fellow...

A u g u s t 2 4 2 0 1 3 S AT U R D AY S TA RNEWS8

DALE HES

ILLEGAL wildlife hunting hasproven to be a way of life inMpumalanga over the years.

According to theMpumalanga Tourism andParks Agency (MTPA), 155mammals were killed in theHighveld area of the provincein the past month alone.

“These include 35 eland,nine zebra, 30 kudu and sixleopards,” said MTPA anti-poaching ranger ThembaMazimba, who patrols theHighveld district.

Mazimba said that theMTPA had removed 180 snaresin the same period.

In an incident on July 26,Mazimba and fellow rangerElias Mkhabela were forced toflee from five poachers armedwith R-5 assault rifles on a farmin Badfontein.

“The farm owner heard agunshot and called us in. Thepoachers had just killed aneland and were loading it ontoa bakkie when we got there.They fired shots at us and wehad to get away,” Mazimba said.

In the MpumalangaLowveld, the Houtbosloop En-vironment Action Link (Heal),which deploys rangers to patrolthree valleys close to theprovince’s capital ofMbombela, has discovered13 000 snares since the organi-sation’s establishment in 2001.

Heal chairman Philip Owensaid hundreds of snares hadbeen recovered this year.

“Some species that arepoached, such as the oribi, arecritically endangered. Not onlybig mammals such as rhinosare hunted illegally, but alsosmaller ones that are not onlyin official parks but also foundin semi-wilderness. In manyplaces antelope populations aredecreasing,” Owen said.

Owen said that in winter,the setting of wire trap snarestended to increase as a result ofgame paths being more visible.

“Two weeks ago, we discov-ered 30 snares in one locationin the Schoemanskloof Valley.Animals killed through snar-ing die a horribly painfuldeath. They are hardly everfetched by the poacher directlyafter they have been trappedand suffer for a long time,”Owen said.

Kruger National Parkspokesman William Mabasasaid subsistence poaching inthe park could not be stopped,but it did not necessarilythreaten antelope populations.– African Eye News Service

Poaching inMpumalangacarries on asa way of lifeRUTH HOPKINS

STEVEN Mothao waswalking back homefrom a piece job on Au-gust 10, 2010, through

Fordsburg in Joburg. Out ofnowhere, three police officersappeared and pushed himagainst a wall.

While onlookers gawked,the police officers slammedMothao into a police van. Hewas detained in a police cell for22 hours. For the first 14, hewasn’t offered a glass of water.Then Mothao was out on thestreet again.

The police officers neveridentified themselves, they didnot have an arrest warrant andthey did not inform Mothao ofthe reasons for his arrest. Hesued the Minister of Police fordamages and was awardedR150 000 in March.

Since 34 striking minerswere shot and killed inMarikana in August last year,the police have been in the spot-light and at the heart of a debate that has the nation grap-pling for an answer to the ques-tion: what has gone so horriblywrong?

Seminars on police brutal-ity were organised and opinionpieces penned. Public interestnaturally gravitates to high-profile cases such as Marikana,the police killing of taxi driverMacia and the corrupt CatoManor police squad.

Thomas Kadi had a similarordeal to Mothao when heworked as a security guard forProtea Coin in Roodepoort in2007. A few days after somepipes and other building mate-rial were stolen, Kadi’s bossand two police officers arrestedhim.

They took him to Roode-poort police station, where hespent three days in custody.

After his release he foundno charges had been broughtagainst him. There was no ar-rest warrant and no evidenceagainst him.

The Wits Law Clinic helpedhim sue the minister. He wasawarded R120 000.

Despite Kadi being inno-cent, he was fired and as a result could not complete the

course in criminal justice hewas following after work.

Ironically, Kadi hoped toqualify as a paralegal so hecould help people exercise theirrights during criminal trials.

His wife divorced him andhe now lives in a shack.

Kadi describes the threenights he spent in the cell as“terrible”.

“There were people crying,sometimes there were 12 menin the cell and you have no pri-vacy whatsoever. Some arecoughing and you know there’sa chance you could get TB. It’sdirty and smelly in there. Theblankets… are full of bugs.”

Ekurhuleni metro policeclerk Selwyn Afrikander wasnot only unlawfully arrested,but beaten too.

The 23-year-old was arrestedin April while he and a friendwere returning home from abar one Saturday night. As theywalked through a dark street inKempton Park to Afrikander’shouse, they were ambushed bypolice officers.

Two police officers grabbedthem and pushed them into avan.

“They drove us to the policestation and brought us to aroom. They cuffed us, they tooktheir sjamboks out and beat usfor about an hour.”

The two officers put a plas-tic bag around Afrikander’sfriend’s head and continuedbeating him.

“They were yelling at us:‘Boesman, you have robbedpeople, tell us who you haverobbed.’”

Eventually the cops let thetwo men go. As in Mothao’s andKadi’s cases, there were nowarrants for their arrests, the officers never identified them-selves and did not bring anycharges against them, as islegally required.

When the two men exitedthe van outside Afrikander’shouse the officers assuredthem they would arrest themagain if a coloured person wasever a suspect in KemptonPark.

“I showed my mother thebruises and cuts on my backand she cried,” said Afrikan-der.

The experience has left himangry. “I don’t trust them (po-lice) and I will never trust an of-ficer again. Whenever I see apolice van, my heart pumpsharder. I can’t communicate ef-fectively at times anymore, be-cause I have these flashbacks ofwhat happened.

“These two officers are bothstill on duty. I see them walkingthe streets in my neighbour-hood. I wonder if they will getaway with this and if not, whois going to be their next vic-tim.”

Unlike most people who arearrested unlawfully, Afrikan-der was acutely aware of hisrights. The morning after hewas beaten up, he went to the police station to file a com-plaint.

He then visited a hospital,where a doctor tended to his in-juries and filled in a J88 form,a standard form that generatesmedical evidence for someonewho has experienced assault.

Afrikander contacted the In-dependent Police InvestigativeDirectorate (Ipid) to report thecrime and to initiate an inter-nal investigation into the assault.

His lawyer started a civil

suit on his behalf, claimingdamages for the unlawful ar-rest and assault.

No disciplinary measureshave been taken against thetwo officers.

Minister of Police NathiMthethwa recently acknowl-edged that there were manycivil claims against the policefor unlawful arrests. He saidhardly any internal charges ofmisconduct or criminal proce-dures had been instituted.

Since 2009, the payments forcivil claims against the policehas doubled. In the past fouryears, R137.2 million wasawarded in damages for unlaw-ful arrests. In addition, civilclaims amounting to R800 000for assaults have been lodgedagainst the police.

The taxpayer is footing thebill for the damages caused byreckless policing, while the officers and their superiors of-ten get off scot-free.

The reasons for this surge indamages for unlawful policeconduct are complex. The po-lice have grown more than50 percent since 2002. Thismass recruitment drive hasplaced pressure on policing sys-tems. Police training, for exam-

ple, was shortened from twoyears to one. Recently the min-ister increased the length totwo years again, but in themeantime, thousands of offi-cers were improperly trained.

Oversight, supervision anddisciplinary mechanisms havebeen neglected in the push toaccommodate new officers.

This mass recruitment wasaccompanied by managerialtough talk. Consecutive policeministers and commissionershave declared a war on crime.In 2010, Mthethwa said: “Crim-inals have defined themselvesas outcasts in the communityand as such they must betreated. To be where we are, wehave waged many battles andwill fight many more.”

Disgraced police commis-sioner Bheki Cele encouragedpolice officers to “shoot to kill”and worry about the conse-quences later. This belligerentapproach, combined with a rap-idly expanding force, has pro-duced overzealous police offi-cials who act first and thinklater.

David Mkhwanazi is another citizen who sufferedcollateral damage from this ap-proach. The former salesman

for a car dealership in OrangeFarm was running to catch atrain in the Joburg suburb ofEnnerdale in 2006 when the po-lice arrested him.

They said he was part of agang of 10 criminals who hadjust robbed and murdered anowner of a brick company andwere visiting a sangoma to“cleanse” their weapons of fin-gerprints.

In custody, Mkhwanazi mis-takenly signed a document hethought was a bail application– it turned out to be a confes-sion.

The ensuing murder trialwas marred by delays. It tooksix years before he could testifyhe had nothing to do with thecrime. The judge released himfor a lack of compelling evi-dence against him.

Mkhwanazi returned to hisfamily in Orange Farm, but heis unemployed, estranged fromhis wife and daughter and findsit hard to imagine a future.

“I am angry with the policeand the system, but I don’tknow what to do. I can’t afforda lawyer,” he said.

He swears he will nevertrust an officer again.

Illegitimate arrests of citi-zens will erode the relation-ship between the men andwomen in blue and the commu-nity they are supposed to serve.

Gareth Newham, head ofthe governance, crime and jus-tice division of the Institute forSecurity Studies (ISS) pointedthis out at a conference oncrime reduction, hosted by theinstitute, on Tuesday.

“Evidence supports the hy-pothesis that the less respectfulpolice are towards suspects andcitizens, the less people willcomply with the law.”

Newham presented someworrying statistics. Since 2002,police brutality cases, regis-tered by Ipid, have risen by313 percent, which translatesinto a staggering average offive cases a day.

Unsurprisingly, a survey onthe image of the police re-vealed only 41 percent of thepopulation has any trust in thepolice force while 35 percentadmit they are scared of the po-lice.

Two sisters from Benoni,who want to remain anony-mous because their civil caseagainst a police officer has notyet been finalised, have gonefrom trusting the police to being frightened at the sight ofa uniform.

“My father was a police-man, we grew up in that kind ofenvironment. I always de-fended the police, but now I fear

them,” the older sister said. The siblings were at a night-

club in Brakpan in January2010, when about 15 police offi-cers entered the club, orderedeveryone outside and arrested30 people. The younger sisterwas herded outside with othersand made to stand against thewall.

When her sibling came look-ing for her, a policemangrabbed her and started hittingher. “He pushed me to the floor,pulled my hair and startedkicking me,” she said. She toldthe officer he was hurting her,but this just egged him on. “Hetightened the handcuffs andasked me if I felt the pain.”

Everyone was then pushedinto the vehicle, where theabuse continued. “The officerclaimed I had used bad lan-guage. When I denied that, hepunched me in the face severaltimes. When my sister told himto stop hitting me, he punchedher in the face too.”

The sisters were detained ina cell for eight hours, then released. They never learntwhy they were arrested andthere was no warrant or chargesheet.

They reported the abusivepolice officer at the police sta-tion, but nothing happened. Afew weeks later, they received aletter which stated the NationalProsecuting Authority (NPA)had decided not to prosecute.

“But I highly doubt theysent the report to the NPA.”

The sisters regularly see thepoliceman doing his rounds inthe neighbourhood. Othermembers of the communityhave told them that the officerhas not changed his ways, hehas beaten up other people, butno disciplinary measures havebeen taken against him.

This blatant impunity forcriminal acts seems to be ageneral trend: in the past fiveyears, 11 880 criminal caseshave been opened with Ipid, butonly 129 of these cases led toconvictions.

Moreover, 1 448 serving po-lice officers have a criminalrecord, including for murderrape and assault.

Internal disciplinary proce-dures do not seem to yield anysatisfying results as the mostlikely outcome – one in fivehearings – finalised in2011/2012 was “not guilty”,whereas one in three resultedin “no sanction” against the ac-cused officer.

The Department of Policewas approached for a responseto the article, but it declined.

Ruth Hopkins is a journalist

for the Wits Justice Project

SYDNEY MASINGA

AN MPUMALANGA ranger haswalked more than 1 000km to spreadthe message against rhino poaching.

Fritz Breytenbach, who is thehead ranger at Tintswalo SafariLodge in Manyeleti, reached the1 000km mark on July 10, but hascontinued to walk a further 60kmand counting.

“I know many people want tohelp save the rhino population, andI really want to do something thatwould allow me to contribute in myown way. So I decided to volunteer towalk 1 000km,” said Breytenbach.

Breytenbach’s walk is part of theTintswalo Rhino Extreme Campaign(TREC), an initiative he started withthe aim of preserving rhinos.

“Walking through the ManyeletiPrivate Game Reserve is certainlyno walk in the park.

“It is much harder than I ex-pected it to be. One has to be bothmentally strong and physically pre-pared before taking such an expedi-tion,” he said.

His walk has seen him encountermost of the big five animals on footas well as a having a “run-in” with ablack mamba, and tearing ligamentsin the process.

“I was certain I would be stronglyadvised to stop walking for severalweeks, something which was and isunthinkable.

“I am still going strong and willkeep walking until I have proven mypoint of ensuring that people fullyunderstand the importance of pre-serving South Africa’s rhinos, andthe role that everyone can play inprotecting these incredible crea-tures,” Breytenbach said.

According to the Department of

Environmental Affairs, more than550 rhinos have been poached in South Africa since January this year.

TREC has received support fromShout SA, an organisation that aims to increase awareness aboutrhino preservation across southernAfrica, while simultaneously offer-ing support to rangers on the groundprotecting rhinos in the ManyeletiGame Reserve and nearby KrugerNational Park.

Musicians Danny K and KabeloMabalane, who are the founders ofShout SA, lent their voices to thecampaign, agreeing to promote theinitiative on their personal socialmedia platforms and among Shoutsupporters.

They have also undertaken toparticipate in one of the TRECwalks.

“We’ve all heard about the plightof the rhino and there are so manyworthy causes to support, but whatreally stuck out for us was the factthat Fritz was willing to walk thetalk… literally. If he was committedto 1 000km, the least we could do toassist was lend our voices in sup-port,” said Danny K.

Tintswalo Lodge’s managing di-rector, Michelle du Plessis, said theendorsement of other well-knowncampaigns and public figures wascrucial to helping TREC spread its message.

“We are therefore delighted to receive the support of Shout SA inhighlighting the threats that rhinosface on a daily basis, and the need totake action so that future genera-tions can witness these magnificentcreatures in their natural habitatand not just in books,” she said. –African Eye News Service

An intake of poorly trained police officers is one of the reasons why there has been a string ofrandom arrests that ended in the victims suing for compensation. Picture: Timothy Bernard

‘WALK THE TALK’: Tintswalo Safari Lodge head ranger Fritz Breytenbach speaks to children about rhino poaching.

NO CAKE-WALK AS RANGER GETS EXTREME FOR RHINOS

Cops get away with arrest, assaultAbusive police officers have created public

distrust through random, violent detentions

They were yelling atus: ‘Boesman, you have

robbed people, tell us whoyou have robbed.’

“