Cape Town - Friends of former detectives head Jeremy Vearey have created a GoGetFunding campaign in a bid to raise funds to cover his medical treatment and his legal fees.
On Tuesday donated funds stood at R33 870 of the R100 000 target.
Vearey contracted Covid-19 last month and has been in and out of hospital while also fighting a legal battle for his reinstatement after he was dismissed in June and lost his medical aid.
Campaign manager Anton Fisher said they were appealing to people to donate to this campaign because they felt Vearey still had an important role to play in fighting crime. He said the campaign was to also show their appreciation for Vearey for the work he had done.
“Jeremy has put his life at risk in the line of duty as a high-ranking police officer, and we need to show him that we appreciate the work he has done in service of our country. Once he recovers fully, he will also need help to cover the legal fees that he will incur when he goes to court to fight his unfair dismissal.
“We are appealing to people to support him so that he can fully recover, and to assist him in his legal fight, which is going to be a lengthy one, to get his job back,” he said.
“Vearey is one of our country’s top detectives and has done amazing work in the fight against crime. The courts recognise him as an expert on gang operations, and one of his major achievements was to lead a successful investigation into gun smuggling, which uncovered guns that had caused more than 1 000 deaths,” said Fisher.
Vearey’s former mentee and close friend Bradley Steyn described him as a patriot who, among other achievements, had thwarted an assassination plot against former president Nelson Mandela at his inauguration.
“Today, Vearey is still championing for a better South Africa in fighting corruption in the SAPS at the highest level.What blows my mind is the way this champion of good has simply been tossed out like rubbish to the wolves,” he said.
Vearey was not available to comment. However, his wife Bernice Roeland said that as much as they were not directly involved in the campaign, the family was grateful for the support.
The GoGetFunding campaign can be found at: https://gogetfunding.com/hands-off-our-generals/