'Recall metro cops'

TMPD Constable Takatso Mashego is accused of Tsakani Oupa Shimange’s murder. Picture: Oupa Mokoena/Pretoria News

TMPD Constable Takatso Mashego is accused of Tsakani Oupa Shimange’s murder. Picture: Oupa Mokoena/Pretoria News

Published Jan 14, 2017

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Pretoria – The Tshwane Metro Police Department’s new batch of law enforcement officers might have to be recalled before more damage is done.

This was the sentiment the Deputy Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services Professor Hlengiwe Mkhize shared following the killing of Tsakani Rikhotso Shimange, 38, allegedly by TMPD Constable Takatso Mashego, 27.

Shimange, who had worked at the department since 2004, was shot in the early hours of Friday, January 6, just a few metres away from the department’s offices in Hatfield.

While details of what led to the shooting are still unclear, allegations were that Shimange was shot when the officer assumed wrongly that he was reaching for a weapon when he was actually trying to restart his car using wires.

Additional reports said Mashego had, in fact, been provoked by Shimange at the time.

Mkhize said the senseless killing of Shimange had been traumatic to the department and his colleagues given the character of the person they knew. “I did not know everyone in the department, but he was always the person who stood up and introduced himself. He would always leave you wondering where he got his energy from and literally make you pay attention to what he had to show you,” she said.

The deputy minister said having witnessed numerous reports of police shootings in Tshwane was a cause for concern and perhaps indicative of the dire need to recall and retrain the officers.

“On the same day the colleague of the accused was recorded as saying they couldn’t give an explanation of what transpired, but mentioned that the officer was one of the new recruits. Maybe this is the bunch who weren’t ready to police in the new democracy and we might have to recall them and look at their training again.

“Recall them and get the right people. There is no explanation to justify killing someone that early in the day when there is no heavy traffic and in the presence of other police officers,” she said.

Having been part of the TRC herself, Mkhize said the shooting and justifications therefore were reminiscent of the system the apartheid police often used.

“The apartheid police had a system of justifying and to build a story around what really happened, hence many people gave up on the system. One assumes that the new crop of police we are recruiting have a deeper understanding of policing in a democratic society as was the case with the Peace Corps during the transition period.”

“How is the public going to entrust them with the responsibility of fighting criminals and protecting them if they can turn around and justify their own senseless killings?” she asked.

This announcement was lauded by the national chairman of the Justice Project South Africa Howard Dembovsky, who said it was commendable that someone in the government structures was taking note of the problem.

“We are glad that finally someone in government has finally noticed this issue we have been complaining about.”

Dembovsky said part of the problem lay with the curriculum that required that metro police officers only undergo 18 months at the traffic college and an additional six at police college.

“It takes a special kind of person to be able to endure the kind of verbal abuse a lot of law enforcement officials and in particular the metro police experience every day in their interactions with the public.

“I think part of the problem is with the recruitment of cadets. Because if you recruit the wrong kind of individuals to start with, then you have a problem on your hands, no matter what training you provide to them,” he said.

TMPD spokesman Senior Superintendent Isaac Mahamba said entry requirements for cadets were that they had to have matric and undergo 24 months of training, with an additional three years for the new Road Traffic Management Corporation qualification.

Regarding the selection of new recruits, Mahamba said an Integrity Measuring Instrument is used for the evaluation and assessment of the 4000 metro police applications received.

While training was conducted by the TMPD, additional training was provided by in-service training at the academy with additional external training provided by SAPS, SANDF and others. Dembovsky said, however, the training had to be looked at again as it clearly was not working.

Pretoria News

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