Hijack victim feels let down by police

THORA Mansfield, director of the Open Door Crisis Centre in Pinetown, has expressed outrage at the law enforcement system after learning that her sister’s case docket had been misplaced at the Pinetown SAPS.

“As an organisation that has been fighting for the rights of women and children, we will not let this slide,” said Mansfield

After falling victim to a violent hijacking at the beginning of August where she was held hostage for two hours in her car, forced to endure threats of rape and death and later dumped in KwaNdengezi, Thelma Smith (78), has since had to deal with what she describes as incompetence on the police’s behalf.

“We had not heard from the warrant officer who was assigned to the case for six days since the incident took place and my sister, Thora, had attempted to make contact with him about ten times using the number we were given. So we went to the Pinetown police station to seek him out,” said Smith.

They met with the warrant officer on Monday 12 August, in his office and asked why he had not attempted to make contact with them since the hijacking on Tuesday 6 August.

Mansfield spoke on behalf of Smith as she showed signs of delayed trauma. “He told me to keep quiet and that he did not want to speak to me and I informed him that I was there to speak on behalf of my sister.

“He stood up from behind his desk and screamed at me to leave his office. I told him that I refused to move. It became a real screaming match and my sister broke down, it was definitely something she did not need to be a part of. I have never seen a man lose control like that,” said Mansfield.

The investigating officer told them that he refused to be part of the investigation and the sisters left the office, with the officer in tow. They noted that he carried the docket under his arm and it was the last time they saw it.

A new investigating officer was assigned to the case on Monday 19 August and Smith was told that he would visit her the very next day. The new investigating officer is yet to contact her.

Smith said she received an alarming phone call on Friday 30 August from the Pinetown Magistrate’s Court informing her that the file regarding her case was not in their possession.

“I told him that we did not have the file. The last time I saw it, the investigating officer was carrying it from his office,” said Smith.

According to Smith, her possessions were still in the vehicle as she visited the scene where he car was found on the night of the hijacking. “Somewhere between the sugar cane fields in Shongweni and the pound, my personal items disappeared,” said Smith.

“As we are an organisation we can go right to the top to try and sort

all of this out, but what about the women in the townships that are

dealing with similar problems, what do they do?” questioned Smith.

According to Const. Lungile Mbatha, spokesman for the Pinetown SAPS, the case docket has not been lost, but is still on investigation and it was taken to the Higher Authority, Provincial Offices in Durban on Monday morning by the investigating officer, W/O Smith, for an inspection.

Police shadow minister Dianne Kohler Barnard had this to say: “This sort of situation does immeasurable damage to the police and for an investigating officer to treat traumatised civilians as if they are an imposition to their busy day is inexcusable. For a man to raise his voice to a woman who has suffered from a crime related incident is inexcusable. I will report this matter to the secretariat of police to be investigated.”