Durban - A Springfield shop owner is living in fear after an alleged torrent of abuse suffered at the hands of controversial Durban metro police chief Eugene Nzama.
Nzama stands accused of grossly abusing his power to have two “illegal” foreign security guards arrested. This was all because he would not allow one of them to sign off a purchase receipt after he had bought two storage boxes from the shop earlier this month.
The incident is the latest in a series of scandals involving the city’s chief of police. He has survived repeated calls by his staff and the taxi industry for him to resign.
In 2012, he was suspended for three months after complaints against him of corruption, nepotism and harassment.
Aggrieved, the shop owner - who asked for her identity not to be revealed for fear of reprisals - has asked the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) to investigate the matter. Ipid has not acknowledged the complaint, despite it being sent on May 10.
Ipid spokesman Robbie Raburabu said the directorate did not investigate incidents of police abuse of power.
City spokeswoman Tozi Mthethwa said the allegations would be investigated “and if found to be true, a disciplinary process will be followed accordingly”.
She did not specifically indicate if the city was aware of the incident. Instead, she said “the municipality does not discuss details pertaining to internal investigations based on allegations against any member of staff with a third party. These matters are confidential. If and when there are labour related issues we address those directly with the employee/s concerned,” she said.
Detailing the ordeal, the businesswoman recounted the events of Sunday, May 8.
“He walked into the shop like a normal customer. When he got to the paypoint it was explained that the doorman would sign off the receipt, at which he frowned,” she said. His purchase took less than three minutes. When he got to the “doorman”, Nzama refused to budge but instead asked the guard to produce his permit.
“He then threatened to call police to arrest the doorman, and he did... The manager on site then suggested he speak to me but he said no.
“He said: ‘My name is Nzama’, that’s all.”
At this point, the showdown caught the attention of “appalled” onlookers.
“There were two advocates who told him ‘You can’t do this’ but he was having none of it,” she recounted.
The shop then offered to refund Nzama, which he initially refused but eventually agreed to. On the footage, he is continuously on his phone and seen dragging the helpless guard by the hand.
About 20 minutes later, two metro cops finally arrived at the shop. Outside they greeted Nzama with a fervent salute. The two then went inside and took the guard away. He is understood to have spent the night in a police cell.
“He (Nzama) caused a whole lot of commotion, making noise and inconveniencing our customers,” said the shop owner.
“He was calling the shots on the phone, saying: ‘You get here now!...’ The cop that took this guard said to me: ‘We apologise but that’s how this guy operates’,” she said. (This could not be independently confirmed by The Mercury.)
Two days later, on May 10, with another doorman now manning the shop’s entrance, about six uniformed metro cops arrived at the shop accompanied by three men wearing Psira (Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority) reflector jackets. The men came in and arrested the new doorman.
“All of a sudden we are victimised. Why now? There were three vans. My business came to a standstill - again! One of these guys was a good guy but another one was very rude,” she said. She said the Psira officials told the doorman he was not allowed to work as a security guard as he was a foreigner and did not have a Security Officers Board number.
The businesswoman said she was unsure whether the guard had since been released from jail.
“These guys are not hired by us, but by a company contracted to us. They are just doormen, they don’t carry guns or anything - they just tick receipts.”