Durban - A jogger claimed he was unlawfully arrested, fined and forced to sign an admission of guilt for not wearing a mask in public.
Avoca resident Asheel Sewsanker, 25, was returning home from his morning jog when he was arrested, near his driveway, by four Greenwood Park police officers on Sunday.
Sewsanker claimed the police searched him, put him into the back of a police van and ignored his plea to inform his parents.
“I did not have a phone on me. They led me to the van under the guise that I am being taken to pay a fine of R1 000. I was interrogated, my fingerprints were taken, put into a cell and booked like a criminal,” he said.
His father Vishal Sewsankar panicked when Asheel did not return. He rallied together a search party. A missing person report was also circulated on social media. When Vishal Sewsanker went to report his son missing at Greenwood Park Police Station, he learnt his son was detained for not wearing a mask.
The adjusted alert level 3 regulations, according to the Disaster Management Act (DMA) during the Covid-19 lockdown, stipulates that it was mandatory to wear a mask or another appropriate item to cover the nose and mouth while in a public space. However, a sub-regulation stipulates that it shall not apply to a person who undertakes vigorous exercise in a public place, provided that the person maintains a distance of at least one and a half metres from any other person, and subject to directions on what was considered to be vigorous.
Greenwood Park community policing forum (CPF) chairpreson Rajiv Jaynath said the police officers should have been knowledgeable about the DMA. Judging from the responses on local WhatsApp groups in the Greenwood Park area, Jaynath said the public was “disgusted” with the way police handled the matter.
“They could have let him off with a warning. We have more severe crimes in our area, but this is overlooked for soft targets. The CPF has called for the station to have a disciplinary hearing for the police officers involved,” Jaynath said.
In KwaZulu-Natal, between December 29, 2020 and February 21, 2021, police arrested 14 653 people for various contraventions of the Level 3 lockdown regulations. Police also arrested 10 701 people for not wearing a mask in public.
Police spokesperson Brigadier Jay Naicker said they were concerned about the high number of people that were arrested on a daily basis for not wearing a mask.
“We are appealing to people to maintain social distancing. This does not seem to be happening, as hordes of people are observed congregating at shopping malls and other public spaces on a daily basis,” he said.
Naicker said security forces remain especially concerned with the high number of people that are arrested on a daily basis for not wearing a mask in public spaces.
“We are appealing to people to maintain social distancing; this does not seem to be happening as hordes of people are observed congregating at shopping malls and other public spaces on a daily basis,” he said.
The Acting Provincial Commissioner for KwaZulu-Natal, Major General Thulani Gonya has urged police officers to continue with the clampdown on those that are not complying with the adjusted alert Level 3 Lockdown regulations.
“We will continue to do our part to ensure that citizens in the province comply with the regulations to stem the spread of the Covid-19 virus. We are urging citizens to comply with the regulations to avoid being exposed to the COVID-19 virus.
“People are also advised to avoid going to shopping malls and other crowded spaces unnecessarily,” he said.
We appeal to anyone with information with regards to contraventions of the adjusted alert Level 3 Lockdown regulations to please contact Crime Stop on 08600 10111 or report contraventions anonymously via the MySAPSApp.
Daily News