South Africa October 2006 |
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| Police corruption in Joburg: new claims, (Citizen, 2006-10-12):-Allegations of corrupt Johannesburg police officers extorting bribes from illegal immigrants for their release have resurfaced. Last year a television exposé revealed how numerous officers at the Booysens police station allegedly took money from illegal foreigners to have them freed. The footage was met with public and police fury, but according to a Johannesburg family little has been done to get corrupt policemen out of the force. Beauty Dube, a domestic worker in the city, yesterday told The Citizen police offered to have her 22-year-old sister Salima released if she paid R1 500. She said her sister emigrated from Zimbabwe to South Africa a few years ago but did not have official documents. “Officers from Johannesburg Central Police Station arrested Salima at the weekend after she was involved in a physical argument with a friend,” Dube said. “My brother went to give her a jersey and visit her at the station, where police told him they would drop all charges against her if we paid them R1 500 cash,” Dube said. Station officials yesterday confirmed to The Citizen Salima was arrested early on Sunday. “The police are using these people like pawns. Either you give them money and they let you go, or they send you to jail,” Dube’s employer said. Johannesburg police spokesman Captain Schalk Bornman said yesterday the allegations were being taken seriously. “If there is any form of corrupt activities within the police, the complainant should bring the matter to the attention of the commander on duty, so that the allegations can be investigated,” Capt Bornman said. He said the necessary steps would be taken if officers were found guilty. At the time of the Booysens police exposé last year, Gauteng Community Safety MEC Firoz Cachalia urged community members who had “experienced abuse of power by those entrusted with protecting them” to report this. | |
South African Migration Project (SAMP) - Queen's University - http://www.queensu.ca/samp |