Caryn Dolley
THE Western Cape community police board’s head was suspended last week and says he will go to extremes to clear his name, including taking the matter to court if necessary.
Hanif Loonat, the chairman of the board which is an umbrella body dealing with the province’s 149 community police forums (CPFs), said he had been suspended for “bringing the police into disrepute and for speaking out within the board about allegations of corruption” and “no will to fight crime” at the Athlone police station.
Yesterday provincial police commissioner Arno Lamoer said he, along with the Department of Community Safety, decided to suspend Loonat, but would not go into the details about what Loonat was being investigated for.
Loonat said if necessary, he would initiate legal action to have his name cleared, and once his name was cleared, he would resign from the community police board.
Loonat hoped his suspension would not affect the functioning of CPFs.
Lamoer said the Athlone police station matter was not the only issue Loonat was being investigated for and there were “more issues”.
He expected the internal investigation into Loonat to be completed in about three weeks.