Municipality probed on arrests
TOP lawyer Gerrie Nel who is representing 11 Ballito residents has demanded answers from the Kwadukuza municipality after his clients were arrested, allegedly for walking on the beach with their children.
Last month they were charged with being on the beach while it was closed to the public during level 4 of lockdown.
They were released on R1000 bail each and told to appear in court in August. However, Nel has written to the acting mayor of Kwadukuza requesting a response to questions about the conduct of the officials.
Among those charged was the father of a child who was “seized” by traffic police.
On May 11, a video which went viral on social media showed how two officers grabbed the 4-year-old boy as he walked behind his father inside a complex in Ballito, on the north coast.
The victims including the boy’s father, subsequently sought legal assistance through the civil rights group Afriforum.
When the municipality was requested to explain whether its officials had acted within the framework and prescriptions of the Criminal Procedure Act it argued that the matter was sub judice.
Natasha Venter, the spokesperson for Afriforum, said the municipality could not just rely on its argument that the incident is sub judice, which barred them from making any information available.
“The question of whether criminal charges were submitted against the residents does not influence the investigation into the peace officers’ alleged unfair and arbitrary actions,” she said.
Venter said Afriforum was not representing hardened criminals but ordinary taxpayers who were confronted with irrational decisions and law enforcers who had acted outside their legal mandate.
“We will continue our pressure on the municipality to ensure that we obtain the necessary information to finalise our investigation and bring the responsible parties to book for their actions,” said Venter.
Husband and wife, duo who cannot be named, said in a statement to Afriforum they were charged for allegedly contravening the lockdown regulations by “being on the beach when it was closed to the public”.
The wife said on their way back to their residence at Chaka’s Rock during the allocated three-hour exercise period between 6 and 9am, they were approached by officials.
She said while walking with their son and daughter an officer charged them (husband and wife) for being on the beach and they were ordered to follow her to the top of the beach path (just outside Salt Café on Ocean Drive) immediately. The incident upset both her children and her daughter started crying.
The woman said at the time about 10 officers were arresting people including children as young as three years old.
“We asked the officers what would happen to our children as both parents were arrested and the children were all minors. One of the officers told the adults that we would be taken to the police station to be handed over to the SAPS and that the process would likely take about 4 hours,” she said.
Another resident said she received several missed calls from her husband and when she went outside to check she saw children crying while holding on to their parents.
She said her terrified daughter ran up to her and screamed: “Please help my dad, they are taking him to jail”.
“Others too were all so upset because their dads were going to jail.”
She said that it was her idea to go for a walk that morning, but she did not mean for them to get into trouble.
Yesterday Kwadukuza municipality’s spokesperson Sipho Mkhize said the matter was with their lawyers.
“This matter is being handled by our attorneys, the corporate communications section, therefore, wishes to use it’s right to reserve comment on this matter,” Mkhize said.