Johannesburg – A middle-aged man casually window-shopping at a computer accessories shop in central Pretoria is suddenly surrounded by a group of five young people – four men and a woman. The encounter quickly turns heated as members of the group reach out for Ishmael Ramatlou’s backpack to search it. Next, the group demanded, and despite his vehement protests and resistance, proceeded to search his person too.
This was the English teacher’s experience at the hands of the Gauteng community safety department’s community patrollers – the provincial government’s safety initiative which is stirring emotions on the streets of South Africa’s capital city.
These young men and women have been deployed by the provincial authorities to arrest runaway crime in the Pretoria CBD and surrounding areas like Sunnyside and Marabastad.
Ramatklou, a father of five, said his midweek afternoon had been ruined by the “bunch of patrollers who have no clue whatsoever on basic human rights”.
“You just saw me being frisked by kids in a public place. What happened to human dignity under ANC rule? Such practices take us back 50 years ago. I am utterly disappointed in whoever sent these thugs. These young people should be in school right now, but they have been misled into believing that they are now cops,” Ramatlou fumed.
Small business owner Chinedi Abrahams said she had often seen her customers being harassed as they walked on the street.
“It’s worse if you are a Nigerian national like myself. We are tired of being stereotyped and treated like criminals every day. Whenever my friends and family come to visit me, they are accused of many things and thoroughly searched by your patrollers. If you don’t have your passport on you, you are forced to buy lunch. This is so unfair,” she said.
“If you look through my window, at any time, you will see people using drugs in the open. You can see all kinds of crime, and these people (patrollers) just look the other way. Their target is the foreign national who is vulnerable. This is state-sponsored xenophobia.”
University student Tebogo Moepa said he was not sure whether to comply with the instructions from the community patrollers.
“Who are these guys? In a country dealing with so many incompetent trained police officers, government is just adding these young people into the mix to cause confusion. Now anyone can just demand to search your pockets. I was embarrassed because my girlfriend was watching while I got frisked … thoroughly. I felt like I was abused,” said Moepa.
When questioned, the community patrollers refused to speak on record, saying they were doing “voluntary work”.
But Gauteng community safety’s Busaphi Nxumalo said the patrollers were making a difference in the fight against crime.
“Patrollers are working with the police to combat crime in our communities. They are trained to deal with the society and obviously to search and effect arrests if necessary. Yes, they are not traffic officers or fully fledged cops, but they assist law enforcers and the community at large. Community Policing Forums are an active organisation and are legal,” she told the African News Agency.
“Crime in Gauteng has increased, more especially house robberies at night, so most of the time these guys don’t sleep, patrolling, while the people who are complaining about them are guarded by the very same patrollers. Patrollers also work at schools. Remember the violence that is continuously taking place in the school premises.”
She said without the community patrollers, the country would not manage to deal with rampant crime.
Regarding allegations of corruption by the patrollers, Nxumalo said she would not comment on the matter because no proof had been provided.
“Let the people go and open a case against the patroller immediately when they are forced to bribe the patrollers. Why do they give them money because they also know it’s a criminal act? Let’s not talk bad of our patrollers because they are doing it out of love for the community and they are not even paid,” she said.
“They risk with their lives on a daily basis. Lastly, they have a right to search anybody provided they have information and the reason to believe (that there is need to conduct a search). They are given permission by the station to conduct the operation.”
Pretoria central police station spokesperson, Warrant Officer Ann Poortman, said she would only respond to the allegations after consulting the station commander.
ANA