Durban — The KwaZulu-Natal Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations (Hawks) must fast-track the arrest of all police officers implicated in drug dealings at Verulam police station, the DA in KZN has said.
The station to the north of Durban was said to have come under the control of well-known drug lord Anthony “Tatu” Gounden, who allegedly had many officers on his payroll in return for protection from them. Gounden was arrested in March.
On Tuesday, the DA took its crime-fighting campaign to the doors of the Verulam police station, demanding action against officers who were said to be in the pockets of Gounden.
Although one officer was arrested in full uniform while escorting Gounden with drugs, the DA believed the officer was not alone and there were still more inside who must be rooted out.
DA provincial premier candidate Chris Pappas said that after being told about the allegations, the party felt it should take action and join the residents in calling for the removal of rotten officers who had decided to serve the criminals rather than the communities.
“The problem with crime not being solved is because it was centralised. This is why, as the DA, we are calling for the devolution of policing powers to the provinces and the establishment of provincial police departments under the MECs, not to someone who will fly from Pretoria, to attend court cases and leave without those cases being solved,” said Pappas.
He added that if provinces were controlling policing they would be able to provide resources better than the national government because they would know which areas needed priority.
The DA’s crime-fighting campaign was boosted by the presence of Ian Cameron, a well-known crime activist in Cape Town. Cameron shot to prominence after he publicly clashed with Police Minister Bheki Cele during a crime imbizo in Khayelitsha.
The drama resulted in Cameron demanding an apology and the DA lodging a complaint with Parliament’s ethics committee against the minister. Cele had shouted “shut up” to Cameron while he was complaining about the police’s failure to fight crime. According to Cameron, the ethics committee found the minister was in the wrong and ordered him to apologise. Cameron said Cele appealed the ruling and has not yet apologised to him.
Speaking to the media about crime levels in the country, he said the reason he came to the province to support the DA’s picketing was that KwaZulu-Natal was contributing 25% of the country’s crime statistics and on several occasions was named as the murder capital.
Two weeks ago, the Daily News’s sister publication, the Post, reported on Gounden’s arrest and that of the Verulam police officer.
In a testimony, Hawks detective Warrant Officer Sivan Naidoo said: “He (Gounden) had the Verulam police station under control and some of the detectives were on his payroll.”
He added that corrupt police officers were assisting drug dealers in opening security companies so that they could have access to firearms.
Gounden, 44, was arrested for the attempted murder of an off-duty metro police officer on March 9.
At the time, the paper said Gounden had fled the scene and handed himself over to the police on March 13. He was also facing charges of fraud, defeating and obstructing the course of justice, and unlawful possession of firearms.
Naidoo told the court that his team had been tasked to investigate high-profile cases, including gang and drug-related matters and attacks on the police.
Hawks spokesperson in KwaZulu-Natal Lieutenant-Colonel Simphiwe Mhlongo said Hawks had arrested police Constable Sherwin Chetty, 28, who appeared in the Verulam Magistrate’s Court on March 3, for dealing in drugs and unlawful possession of ammunition.
Chetty was arrested during a roadblock after information was received that he was transporting drugs. He said he would check the status of the matter and revert to the paper but had not done so by the time of the publication.
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