“According to Amanzimtoti police, they were forced to release the suspects after 48 hours because there was no evidence linking them to any case. It is alleged that a private security company shot at them and arrested them on suspicion of being involved in cases reported in Amanzimtoti. No firearm or evidence was found on these men to indicate that they were involved in any crime. We could therefore not detain them further as their detention will be illegal,” said Col Jay Naicker of the KZN SAP media centre.
Thursday, 17 October:
THREE men who were arrested in Joyner Road, Prospecton on Friday, 11 October in connection with an attempted break-in at a home in Cato Crescent, Toti and allegedly linked to two more crimes in the area, were released by the courts on Monday, 14 October after it emerged that Toti police had failed to charge them within the stipulated 48 hours.
On being spotted in Cato Crescent, the men who were driving a silver Opel Corsa hatchback sped off toward the northbound lane of the N2 pursued by Blue Security. They were arrested with assistance of Metro Police and CCPO in Joyner Road.
The occupants of the same Corsa are also alleged to be involved in at least two other incidents, a hijacking at Toti Primary in Frost Street on Thursday, 3 October and the theft of gardening power tools in Wavecrest Road, Athlone Park at the end of September.
Shane Wilkinson, owner of a garden service whose two employees were held at gunpoint in Wavecrest Road and robbed of a brush cutter and blower, is livid at the men’s release. “The cops are not doing their jobs. It is an absolute disgrace. The cops are either slack or on the take, they are causing more damage than the criminals.”
According to Shane, within five minutes of his employees being robbed, the robbers pounced on gardeners of a Wavecrest Road complex, held them at gunpoint and stole a brushcutter. When the three men were arrested in Joyner Road, Shane happened to drive past and stopped when his employee recognised the Corsa. “My employee told me it was the same car involved in the robbery. He also recognised one of the robbers and I told the cops. A church minister who had stopped also recognised the men, as they had allegedly robbed him too.”
CCPO chairman, Richard Allkins said: “The release this week of three men arrested on suspicion of robbery and hijacking is once again a slap in the face to those policemen and security personnel such as the CCPO, who spend time and effort risking their lives protecting the community from these evil predators.
We are told time and again that as communities and individuals we are not to resort to vigilantism but to rather let the law take its course. However, after all the hard work bringing these criminals to justice, we can do nothing but watch in shock and disbelief as the very people who should be enforcing the law are releasing these thugs back onto our streets due to a technicality. While I do not agree with the following, I can understand why you see mob justice in the townships, I can understand why people no longer bother to report crime, I can understand why there are more private security personnel than policemen on the streets, I can understand why crimes are solved by private detectives when the case has gone cold elsewhere. I can understand why communities are looking to create their own crime fighting units and I can understand why good policemen are disheartened and leave the force. What I can’t understand is that there are people in responsible positions who do not care, and that there is a leadership not willing to take responsibility, lead by example and be willing to be held accountable.” Attempts to elicit comment from KZN SAP media centre were unsuccessful at the time of going to print.
