Cape Town - Residents from gang-affected communities are waiting for the release of an investigative report which looked into the alleged links between gangs and the police in the province.
The expectation is that the report would vindicate the communities which had been complaining that the police were infiltrated by gangs and that this was one of the reasons for the ongoing violence and gangs that had destroyed the social fabric in the areas.
The Western Cape Police Ombud, retired Major-General Oswald Reddy, handed over the final report on Friday to Premier Alan Winde, who has also teased that the report concluded that the allegations were probably substantiated.
The Police Ombudsman’s report followed after Winde, in October, requested it to launch an investigation after a high court judgment delivered by Judge Daniel Thulare.
The judge stated that there was evidence that gang members had infiltrated the top management structures of the police in the province and were accessing key documents and strategies on crime fighting.
Thulare made the remarks while making a judgment against Elcardo Adams and Alfonso Cloete, who appealed the decision of a magistrate who refused to grant them bail.
The two were charged jointly with 12 others on several counts, including premeditated murders, conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder, possession of unlicensed firearms, and unlawful possession of ammunition.
Thulare said evidence showed that the 28s gang and the Mobsters were breathing heavily down the necks of public prosecutors who guide the investigation of organised crime and institute criminal proceedings against its members.
He said the Mobsters were now interfering with the decorum of the courts and the independence of judicial officers and testing the judicial oath of office.
Winde, who indicated he was studying the Ombud’s report, said he met the police provincial commissioner Thembisile Patekile to discuss its findings.
He said he would hold further engagements on the report and would share it with the public “as soon as I am in a position to do so”.
He said what was clear was that this infiltration probably extended far beyond the case, and that dangerous forces were at play.
Manenberg anti-crime activist Roegshanda Pascoe pointed to the Phillipi police station as being the worst on the Cape Flats, where she said the police were captured by gangsters.
He said a case in point was how gangs acquire state-issued firearms that she said were confiscated by police and people were made to believe were destroyed, only to return to the streets.
Hanover Park CPF deputy secretary Yaseen Johaar said attempts to fight gangsterism were welcomed, however, such investigations must not only be limited to police but be extended to the courts, law enforcement, and Leap officers – all of whom he alleged were infiltrated.
Provincial police were approached for comment but did not respond by the time of publication.