Durban — Crime analysts said the involvement of police in criminal activities needs to be addressed. This was after an incident where officers were found on the wrong side of the law in Ntuzuma, KwaZulu-Natal.
On Sunday, one police sergeant who was an armed robbery suspect was killed, and a constable escaped. He was arrested on Monday. Both police officers were stationed at KwaMashu SAPS.
KwaZulu-Natal Police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said on Sunday: “A police sergeant is among three suspected armed robbers who were shot and fatally wounded in a shoot-out with police in two separate shooting incidents in Ntuzuma on Sunday afternoon.”
He said at least six suspects, some dressed in police uniform and others wearing pieces of police uniforms, reportedly stormed into a store in Richmond on Sunday morning and held the shop owner and the staff at gunpoint, before robbing the victims of their firearms, an undisclosed amount of money and other items.
“Police operationalised intelligence and the two vehicles which were spotted fleeing from the crime scene were traced to a residence on Mgwenya Avenue in Lindelani.
“When the suspects realised the presence of the police, they opened fire as they ran out of the house. Two suspects were shot and fatally wounded at the scene. They were both found wearing police headdresses. One of them was also in possession of a police firearm and a police bulletproof vest. Another police bulletproof vest and a police raincoat were found inside the house. A vehicle belonging to a police officer, who had just reported off duty earlier in the morning from his night shift at KwaMashu police station, was found at the scene,” he said.
He added that police then received intelligence about an injured police officer who was hiding inside a shack at Phindangene informal settlement in Ntuzuma B. When the police arrived at the scene, the police sergeant fired shots at the police officers and in a resultant shoot-out, he was shot and killed.
On Monday, he said another suspect who escaped during a shoot-out with police at Lindelani in Ntuzuma on Sunday afternoon was arrested Monday morning.
“The suspect, who is a 38-year-old police constable, also stationed at KwaMashu police station, was located at a hospital north of Durban where he was being treated for a gunshot wound on his left arm. He will appear in court soon,” Netshiunda said.
KZN violence monitor Mary de Haas said recruitment needs to be tighter, adding that they had been calling for tighter measures for years.
De Haas said that criminal elements in the police are a huge problem because it also affects the lives of good officers and that this problem begins at the recruitment phase.
“Last year, we had sent information to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) asking for an investigation that some of the new recruits actually bribed their way after failing the test,” De Haas said.
She added that she receives multiple reports from various communities stating that police are heavily involved in colluding with various drug dealers because there’s a lot of money involved.
De Haas also shared that a common trend is firearms going missing. “In this Richmond case, where they were wearing police uniforms, it seems easy to get a hold of them. It seems that there are no controls kept over police uniforms because those in uniform are with current officers serving or former officers who have served but did not return their uniforms,” she said.
She referred to an incident that took place in July 2021 that involved the raiding/trashing of Bhekithemba SAPS during which firearms, ammunition and uniforms were taken and it led to the station being closed.
“Locals are adamant that the gangs made off with the weapons and that they used those weapons in other gang massacres,” she said.
She stressed that a few corrupt officers are detrimental and gave the example that if a few of them leak sensitive information, it could put many lives in danger.
“Community trust in the police has plummeted over the years. If one can afford to, they go to a private investigator,” De Haas said.
She said that should not be the case, given that residents pay taxes so that the police do their job and residents can oversee their work.
She said due to a lack of trust, citizens are scared to report as their lives are now in danger.
“Instead of protesting, people must learn to lobby and lobby a member of Parliament and demand that something is done, because it’s the politician’s job to sort the police out,” she said.
“The major crisis we face is, where do all the guns come from? We need to do an inquiry not only on police shootings but rather a set-up to check on the regulations of the security industry as well as gun shops,” she said.
She concluded that this inquiry should also look at the types of guns that go missing because most of the time it’s either police, private security or military weapons.
The Institute for Security Studies’ (ISS) Dr Johan Burger said these incidents raise concern for citizens’ safety, as various victim surveys have indicated a huge decline in public trust in the police.
Burger said: “One only has to listen when people have casual conversations. People will always mention an example where an officer has tried to bribe them or been involved in some criminal activity.”
He said the implications are that it creates distrust of the police service and leads to questions of whether or not a parent should trust their child to report to an officer if in need of help.
Burger said bad and corrupt officials ruin the reputation of the good, dedicated and hard-working cops.
“With the assistance of Ipid, I think the police need to have a strategy on how to identify these criminal elements within the police service and to root them out; and hopefully the courts will look at these arrested officers when they convict them and pass sentences that they should have known better and were disrespectful to their oath,” Burger said.
He referred to the recruitment policy and, similar to De Haas’s point, said that the policy must be more strict, as recruitment officers have taken various bribes before.
Burger said that one should remember that those criminal police members were traced by honest police and confronted under life-threatening circumstances. One of the rogue police officers was subsequently killed and the other was arrested.
Provincial commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi reiterated that the police fight crime from within and that police officers who involve themselves in criminal activities will be met with the harsh wrath of the law.
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