WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2008-04-20 Time: 00:00:00 Posted By: Jan
By Annie Dorasamy
KwaZulu-Natal Community Safety boss Bheki Cele has slammed the zero conviction rate of suspects involved in 13 deaths, some linked to more than 20 drug-related shootings in Chatsworth and surrounding areas over the past three years.
The death of Sundram (also known as Boxer and Brian) Moonsamy on Thursday brings the number of deaths to 13 – all believed to be linked to the drug underworld in the south Durban township.
Although Moonsamy’s family has denied any such link, a police source claimed the shooting was related to drugs.
| ‘When suspects are given bail, witnesses are interfered with and they run helter- skelter’ |
Police said that since 2005 the following people had been killed in drug-related shootings: Dredin Arumugam, the five-year-old son of taxi boss Duncan Arumugam; Deon Govender, a taxi owner; Manilall Rocky Haripersad, a tow truck owner; Pragasen Moodley, a firearms dealer; Trevor Vardarajulu, a policeman; Munsamy Smithy Gounden, a night club owner; Nicky Pillay, a disc jockey; Soobramoney Gonnie Naidoo, a reformed drug dealer; Stanley Govender, an alleged drug dealer; Donovan Pillay, an associate of the Dre Boyz gang; and Calvin Naidoo, a businessman and associate of the TDK gang.
No one has been convicted of their murders.
Cele said there was a tug-of-war between police and the judicial system and added that the granting of bail to suspects arrested for murder made him “mad”.
“I am not blaming the justice system, but when suspects are given bail, witnesses are interfered with and they run helter- skelter.
“Sometimes they cannot be found or their original statements change and the case becomes weak and is unable to hold weight,” Cele said.
| ‘If you don’t make an example of a suspect, the problem will continue’ |
He said he understood the community’s frustration as drugs in Chatsworth and Phoenix were a huge problem.
“If you don’t make an example of a suspect, the problem will continue and people will feel that you don’t care about them,” Cele said.
He said he would be meeting police units investigating drug-related crimes in townships to find out why there was no success in convicting suspects.
Sammy Sayed, spokesperson for the Durban South Community Policing Board, said police faced the challenge of people not wanting to provide information for fear of victimisation.
“Police can only work on information provided to them. They either pick up information from the crime scene or get information from informers.
“So it would be unfair to say that police were inefficient when the community was not prepared to come forward with information.
“The community must also play a more active role in fighting corruption,” Sayed said.
He said the issue of police corruption was not unique to Chatsworth, but would not dispute that there may be some corrupt members at the police station.
Logan Chetty, chairman of the Chatsworth Community Policing Forum, said there would be an urgent meeting on the issue with police management at the station.
“There is a problem and it needs to be addressed. The community is being labelled as a violent place and it is an unfair presumption,” Chetty said.
He said the drug-related shootings were not solely investigated by the Chatsworth police but they worked with a specialised unit.