Fury at ‘inaction’ of SAPS

‘I don’t know what to do’: dead child’s mom

IT’S been four months since 10-month-old Chloe Louw was killed in a hit-and-run accident at Sunrise Circle in Muizenberg and her mother, Lee-ann Louw, said Muizenberg SAPS have done little to investigate her daughter’s case.

Chloe was killed in December after a bakkie hit the vehicle her family was travelling in on their way home to Eersterivier from Ocean View.

Chloe, who was sitting on her mother’s lap in the back seat, was found between the front and back passenger seats and died of her injuries.

“When I woke up I just saw red lights. They were all drunk in the bakkie that hit us. The passengers told the driver to run and he fled the scene. I asked the constable, what are they going to do?” said Louw.

“The constable shouted at me to calm down and said there is nothing he can do.

“It’s been four months and there have been no arrests. I feel hatred, confusion and anger, just everything,” she said.

Louw said she had been to the Muizenberg Police Station and called their offices countless times to find out if any progress has been made into her daughter’s case, but claims to have been shouted at by officers and told that she was wasting her time.

Louw said after receiving no information from the detective on her case, she learnt another detective had been assigned to take over the case. He came to retake her and her husband’s statements when her case docket was not found.

“The second detective wanted to start on the case from scratch. We refused to give him a new statement.

“He got the docket from the first detective at her home and we saw for ourselves, it was just me and my husband’s statement, no other work was done on the case.

“The warrant officer told me he would do a follow-up – up until today there is nothing, no feedback. It’s four months down the drain. I don’t know what to do, what to believe and who to trust,” said Louw.

SAPS Western Cape spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Andrè Traut said the allegations made against Muizenberg police were serious and would need to be investigated. “The allegation of police incompetence will have to be investigated and substantiated. Allegations made against police are not taken lightly.

“Once the complainant lodges a complaint with the management of Muizenberg police, an investigation can be instituted,” said Traut.