Cape Town - Having denied two alleged gangsters bail last week, Judge Daniel Thulare shone a spotlight on SAPS officers who become involved in organised crime and corrupt dealings with Cape Town gangs, along with the compromised safety of state prosecutors.
Alleged gang leader Elcardo Adams and Alfonso Cloete, accused of having links with the Mobster gang on the Cape Flats with strongholds in Happy Valley, Kleinvlei, Kraaifontein and Dennemeer, were denied bail in the Western Cape High Court while on trial on a number of criminal charges.
These include premeditated murders, conspiracies to commit murders, attempted murders, possession of unlicensed firearms and unlawful possession of ammunition.
Judge Thulare lamented the corrupt operations of SAPS officials who have links to organised crime and how the safety of state prosecutors had been compromised. Gangsters, he said, had “moved gear upwards”, infiltrating the justice system.
“The appellants are alleged to have run a criminal enterprise (and) involved the transportation and selling of prohibited drugs. It included killing opponents in the gang world and in the prohibited drug trade.
“The gang was assisted by some members of the police and forced business, in particular the taxi business, to admit its members into the routes at gunpoint.
“The gang had protection and assistance from corrupt members of the police.
“The corrupt police protection and assistance included transportation of its drugs from court to prison, the betrayal of rival gangs and their exposure to death and leaking of information from police planned activities, strategies and tactics to deal with gangs ...
“The evidence suggests not only a capture of some lower-ranking officers in the SAPS. The evidence suggests that the senior management of the SAPS in the province has been penetrated to the extent that the 28 gang has access to the table where the provincial commissioner of the SAPS in the Western Cape sits with his senior managers.
“He leads them in the study of crime, develop crime prevention strategies and decide on tactics and approach to the safety and security of inhabitants of the Western Cape.”
Judge Thulare said this included penetration of and access to the sanctity of the reports by specialised units like the Anti-Gang Unit and Crime Intelligence, to the provincial commissioner.
“The evidence further shows that the 28 gang and the Mobsters in particular are breathing heavily on the necks of public prosecutors who guide the investigation of organised crime and institute criminal proceedings against its members. Such prosecutors are under a constant and permanent threat to their lives and that of their close families,” said Judge Thulare.
Responding to the judgment, SAPS spokesperson Andre Traut said: “SAPS Legal Services in the Western Cape is currently looking at the judgment cited in your enquiry. This office will reserve our right to respond to the matter at this stage.”
Enquiries to the police Ministry were not answered by deadline.
Crime activists said a captured police force cannot curb the scourge of “gender-based violence” and that “police are playing with human life”.
Action Society’s Ian Cameron said gender-based violence cannot be curbed if the police have been captured by organised crime, especially when it is in the highest ranks.
Crime activist and founder of the Manenberg Safety Forum, Roegshanda Pascoe, said the corruption was multi-faceted, stretching across various directorates.
“You can blame police and you can blame government. This is politics played with human life. We find that the councillors are being caught in the same GBV acts that we are fighting against, so why is action not being taken? Women are being oppressed and the blame runs to all (authorities),” said Pascoe.
Cape Times