Minister Fritz notes failures to charge those arrested during SANDF intervention, offers Court Watching Brief services
18 August 2019
We are nearly five weeks into the deployment of the SANDF, and residents on the Cape Flats are rightfully beginning to question the impact of the deployment in their communities. Murder rates remain high and patrols reportedly last no longer than three hours at a time. It is imperative that we are provided with further information on the SANDF’s deployment plans and tactics, but this information is kept from us.
The army was deployed to assist SAPS, Metro Police and other law enforcement agencies in stabilising and pushing back the high levels of gang-related crime in our communities. Police Minister, Bheki Cele, has boasted that this intervention has resulted in high levels of police visibility in the most gang-afflicted communities, the confiscation of illegal firearms and the arrests of over 1000 individuals with outstanding warrants of arrest.
Having said that, it is concerning that these arrests have not resulted in charges and convictions. I have been informed that the majority of those arrested were released within 72 hours due to detective services’ failure to positively link the arrests to crimes and/or to complete the requisite investigations.
I therefore urgently call on Minister Bheki Cele to make use of my Department’s Court Watching Briefs Unit to track arrests made during the deployment, and to ensure they lead to the successful prosecution of guilty parties.