My Take: Short arm of the law in Umkomaas

THERE seems to be something rotten in the State of Umkomaas when it comes to policing.

One hates to generalise as there must also be good guys in blue (or plain clothes) who are trying to do their best to fight crime with very limited resources.

But alarm bells ring when horrific crimes like murder go unsolved and there is a distinct “ho-hum” attitude when people complain.

Take Joan Kirby (79) for example. She was found dead at her house in Umkomaas exactly a year ago. According to people close to poor Joan, employees who last saw her late the previous evening have not even been interviewed. These people had allegedly been working at the house for a month or two before she died.

God forbid that they had anything to do with the murder, but surely there’s a chance they might have some useful evidence?

Police comment this week: “Investigations are on-going.”

Then there’s the strange, strange case of Leanne Douglas who was shot while being chased by police on the highway at Umkomaas nearly two years ago.

It was really an horrific experience for Leanne’s mother, Leoni, who was at home in Durban and was listening to her daughter’s frantic call for help via cell phone. The phone went dead, presumably when Leanne’s car overturned and she died at the scene.

Since then, nada.

The case was referred to IPID and seems to have stalled there, much to the frustration of Leoni.

Then a whole cache of weapons allegedly disappeared out of the evidence lock-up at the Umkomaas Police Station about two years ago.

Since then, nada.

We also hear from insiders that it’s not so rosy working in Umkomaas and many experienced officers are resigning.

What exactly is going on in Umkomaas?

We are still trying, but it is difficult to get any comment from the SAPS.