Ipid to probe Kimberley policewoman over kidnapping, brutal assault

CASES of attempted murder and kidnapping have been opened against a Kimberley police officer after two young men were brutally assaulted and abandoned along the road, after reportedly being accused of breaking into her home.

The parents of the two youths, aged 22 and 24, said their sons were taken from their homes in Homevale Extension on October 16 and loaded into a police vehicle.

“Instead of being arrested or taken to the police station, they were transported to the home of the police officer. They were kept inside a shanty at the back of the yard. They were stripped of their clothes and assaulted, receiving lashings with a sjambok and a wooden log from 12pm to 7pm. Their heads were also plunged into a bucket of water,” the parents said.

They added that after the alleged assault, the men were transported in the police van and left along the side of the road near a brickworks factory in Homevale at about 5am the following morning.

“Our children could have been run over by a truck as they were severely assaulted, bleeding, weak, and unconscious. They had no means of getting back home.”

The parents said they became worried when their sons did not return home.

“We searched all over for them as they were not booked into the holding cells. Eventually, we discovered that a good-hearted Samaritan stopped to assist them and took them for medical attention. If it wasn’t for him, they might not have been alive today. They were admitted to Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe Hospital, where they required stitches after sustaining injuries all over their faces and bodies. They were discharged after spending two days in hospital and are still traumatised.”

The chairperson of the Northern Cape Civics Organisation, Ross Henderson, condemned the alleged police brutality and called for the implicated officer to be suspended.

“It is shocking that a law enforcement officer resorts to mob justice and violence, where the services of a vigilante group were allegedly enlisted to assault the men. Does the police officer not have any faith in the justice system?” he asked.

Henderson called for a thorough investigation into the incident.

Northern Cape SAPS spokesperson Sergeant Molefi Shemane said the Roodepan Detectives were investigating a housebreaking and theft case that reportedly occurred on October 16 in Homevale.

“Police investigations are continuing, with no arrests having been effected by the police yet,” he said.

He added that the charges against the police officer had been referred to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) for further investigation.