Cape Town - Highly-placed sources and a senior police officer have confirmed a CCTV operator in Grassy Park saw the Parkwood mob attack on murdered Bolt driver Abongile Mafalala, but left her station to run errands.
Mafalala was murdered after he was falsely accused of being a kidnapper by criminals, who had robbed him of his belongings.
Videos of the attack went viral on social media and sent shockwaves throughout the country.
So far, eight people are in Pollsmoor Prison, facing charges of murder, robbery and damage to property following the incident.
Members of the neighbourhood watch and CPF also confirmed that they were told in meetings that the woman monitoring the CCTV cameras left the room unattended. These members asked not to be named as they fear litigation.
“Apparently, the woman on duty in the GP camera control room, behind the civic centre, saw the attack commence, then buggered off to do her errands at the bank,” said the member. “It is unacceptable that this happened and this is not the first time someone dies and the cameras fail to pick it up due to someone not paying attention.”
The Weekend Argus was shown two cameras near the intersection of the M5 and Hyde Road, Parkwood, where the murder took place.
"We found that the woman in the operating room left the room unattended and went to the bank. This is a matter between the woman and the City," said the police officer
Another crime fighter said issues had been raised with the City of Cape Town regarding the cameras.
“The camera control room has been a hot potato since inception. Seventeen neighbourhood watches sent a letter a few years back protesting the fact that non-registered or security-cleared individuals were manning cameras in our area. That letter didn’t even receive the courtesy of a reply. Now I believe it’s not City employees in the GP control room, but another of JP’s private security firms from the northern suburbs. This has become a trend. We have so many local, registered security companies, but City sites like Princess Vlei are protected by firms from outside the area.”
Asked about the allegations, City spokesperson Luthando Tyhalibongo said: “The City notes the serious allegations made and will investigate these claims.”
The family of Mafalala was at the scene yesterday with the casket of the deceased to collect his spirit, as per Xhosa rites, before his final send-off in the Eastern Cape.
Speaking for the family, Mafalala’s girlfriend, Zandile Maweza, said it did not come as a shock that the camera room was allegedly left unattended.
“Abongile was failed by many people, including law enforcement agencies. We were told by the community that they stood there and watched while he was being beaten.”
She said the family was still struggling to come to terms with the tragedy.
“I think maybe after the funeral we will begin to accept that this happened to him. We have received amazing support from the public and that made it easier to deal with the pain.”
Mafalala was one of at least 60 people to die in mob attacks this year. The first three months of the year saw an increase nationally in mob attacks.
Crime expert Eldred De Klerk said what happened in Parkwood may not represent the best of that community.
“We have to be careful when we condemn the entire community because of the actions of the few. The other thing is that the community now needs to be cleansed because of that act of injustice no matter how justified that mob felt. This is where traditional and faith leaders now need to help the entire community recover and heal from this.”
He said what happened will scar the community for a long time and that in the last 25 years, the country has not continued with the restorative justice programme.
“This is where our key state and public institutions and community-based institutions have dropped the ball by not continuing with the restorative justice message and with the rule of law message. We have not done enough to fight the injustice, fight the indignity and endemic poverty. So now the president talks about the developmental agenda and yet we have public institutions that do not seem to know how to deliver on these key constitutional imperatives of a socio-economic, socio-political liberation of our people.”
Weekend Argus