Durban - Several hijackings and murders in KwaZulu-Natal have made headlines in recent days, while the man who was once dubbed KwaZulu-Natal’s top cop is promoting his book rather than tackling the bad guys.
But this is hardly his fault. KZN Hawks boss Major-General Johan Booysen has been suspended from work and his matter is now before the courts.
This week Booysen was in Port Elizabeth doing the rounds for his tell-all book Blood on Their Hands, which has proven popular with hundreds of copies being sold.
He told the Daily News the title referred to those behind the disbandment of his unit and the suspension of his team.
It covers his life and career - from patrolling the streets of eManzimtoti in the 1970s to his rise in 2010 as head of KZN’s Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation unit, the Hawks, as well as “his persecution” for doing his job as a law enforcement officer.
Booysen, who was also the former head of the now-disbanded Cato Manor Serious and Violent Crimes Unit, is awaiting a responding affidavit from National Director of Public Prosecutions Shaun Abrahams.
He said: “On August 17, I filed an affidavit at the Durban High Court challenging Abrahams’ authorisation of my prosecution after a court ruling that there was no case against me and that my suspension was unlawful. I want that authorisation reviewed and set aside,” he said.
This after Durban High Court Judge Trevor Gorven found in 2014 that there was no evidence to warrant racketeering charges against him - but Abrahams went ahead and authorised his prosecution in May this year.
The charges were filed by then-deputy National Director of Public Prosecutions, Nomgcobo Jiba. His troubles, Booysen believes, started when he began investigating “well-connected” people in 2010.
His unit, dubbed the Cato Manor Death Squad by his detractors, has since been disbanded. His team was charged with racketeering in 2012. Booysen has successfully challenged all the suspensions through the courts.
“All the six court matters since the beginning of my persecution almost five years ago have cost the taxpayer millions of rands because the respondents had to pay the costs. Those millions could have been channelled to service delivery,” said Booysen.
He said the respondents were the Minister of Police as well as the Justice and Constitutional Development Minister.
Booysen is still drawing a salary and is nine months away from retirement.
He blamed what he described as an escalation of violent crime on those who wanted him out.
“It’s clear that for the last couple of years since we’ve been out of action, violent crimes have gone up. Before then, people were scared to commit such crimes. Since the beginning of the court battles, criminals have carte blanche,” he said.
“They (those who have undermined him) have blood on their hands because they are the reason for the escalation of these heinous crimes. All the work we have done has been undone. There’s little time left to undo the damage done and as I said, my track record speaks for itself,” he said.
Meanwhile, DA MP and former public prosecutor Glynnis Breytenbach said the NPA and other key state institutions charged with combating priority crimes, like corruption, had been captured.
She said these institutions were now tasked with carrying out poli-tical hits instead of investigating without fear or favour.
“Abrahams is not fit for that office because since his appointment in July 2015, his tenure has been characterised by poor decisions, some of which included re-instituting charges against Booysen... that were based on flimsy evidence and that had already been thrown out of court,” said Breytenbach.
Police were asked to comment on Booysen’s claims but would only say that KZN continued to “see a steady decline in crime”.
Acting provincial commissioner for KwaZulu-Natal, Major- General Bheki Langa, attributed this to “an integrated approach towards fighting crime”.
Daily News