An off-Duty Police Constable was shot dead in the west of Durban on Tuesday night last week, allegedly by her partner at his residence in Mpumalanga Township. A murder Investigation has been opened since. The independent Policing Unit (IPU) of South Africa says its concerned that those meant to protect the communities, they are stationed in are themselves linked to violent incidents.
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The suspect, who is a Crime Intelligence sergeant, was taken to hospital under police guard after he allegedly tried turning the gun on himself. While the motive for the shooting is unknown, police say domestic-related violence can’t be ruled out. The union says such incidents damage public trust in the police and raise concerns about gender-based violence within the SAPS. Spokesperson, Bethuel Nkuna, says this may also discourage GBV victims from reporting abuse when seeing that officers themselves are perpetrators of violence. “This kind of behaviour cannot be accepted at all. Cases like this, they do get a lot of media attention as we are now dealing with it. Then the narrative shifts from the gender-based violence as a societal problem to gender-based violence also as a problem within the people who we trust to stop it. And that can fuel complete withdrawal from cooperating with the police.”
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Gun and Gender-Based Violence is not acceptable given the situation of crime. Law enforcement and especially the South African Police Service (SAPS) should have a built-in support network and therapy counselling network with in their ranks to counter the growing crisis. There can be no place for abuse of power or violence amongst the police. Domestic abuse cannot have a place within the culture of the police force. Police are still investigating the situation and the truth about the perpetrator’s motive will come to light, as will the matter of this being an isolated case or the symptom of a systematic issue unravelling the police force from within. It will depend on who takes responsibility. That is to say that if the violence is systematic, then the SAPS chain of command should rethink its position about the mental conditions of its subordinates. The domestic security of eThekwini region will depend on it.
In terms of the Xenophobic attacks, foreign expatriates, even those who stay in the country legally, – including Princess Adjei a Hair salon owner from Ghana who has grown up in South Africa and was educated here. She has been here since a toddler.
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Adjei said she spent 50,000 rand (more than $3,000) renovating the salon in February. This month, she moved out of her central Durban apartment. “Without the salon …. I don’t have money for rent,” she said, showing Reuters a blanket where she and her 14-year-old son now sleep next to 200 other migrants on the street. They have set up camp outside the office of the government’s Department of Home Affairs, hoping officials there will be able to confirm their residency status. Other Africans have fled towns and cities and taken refuge on mountains and rough ground amid violence that has killed at least five and caused a diplomatic rift with the rest of the continent.
South Africa will find itself in a very fragile position if it persists in mistreating expatriates who set up shop or work here. Durban Metro and eThekwini region is a flourishing port with abundant economic potential. The Xenophobic onslaught will earn both Durban and South Africa as a whole a reputation of hostility and lead to isolation. Not all the migrants – both legal and illegal – will be willing to stay. Most unlike Adjei will possibly return to their country of origin (if they don’t have children in this country, from relationships with locals). In regard to the situation of the migrants camping outside the Department of Home Affairs, this does not paint a positive image in regard to how Pretoria wants to be seen by the rest of Africa.
A society and population are a reflection of how the rest of world views it. Now Durban and South Africa do not present an overall positive image.
Article written by:
Yacoob Cassim
Journalist at Radio Al Ansaar
