Private Prosecution Unit submits more than 20 service complaints against police in 2020
25 August 2020
AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit submitted more than 20 formal service complaints against the police at certain provincial police commissioners, as well as the national police commissioner since April 2020. These complaints result from the inability or unwillingness of police members to execute their duties.
The latest complaint was on 24 August submitted to the commissioner in the case of Odette Kotze (57). Kotze was assaulted in a shopping centre in Port Elizabeth by shop owners during level 5 of the nationwide lockdown and tied down with a rope after they accused her of stealing a packet of matches.
The shop owners detained her against her will for more than two hours, after which the police arrested and detained her – not on a charge of theft, but assault. Kotze appeared in court on this charge, after which she was released on R500 bail. The magistrate recommended her to lay a charge against the shop owners after he witnessed her injuries. Kotze subsequently laid a charge of assault with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm, manstealing and damage to property against the shop owners.
In this case the police not only failed to obtain the closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage of the incident, but also refused to give feedback to Kotze as the complainant in the case.