BATHURST MAN ANGRY OVER POLICE RAID ON HIS HOME FOR SUSPECTED STOLEN GOODS
Bathurst man claims group of officers stormed into home without search warrant
ABathurst man is still seeking answers following a police raid on his family home in the early hours of the morning three weeks ago – in an apparent attempt to locate stolen goods.
Sicelo Nkantini said his family was woken by police at around 2.30am on Monday November 26.
“My father and younger brother, Siyavuya Nkantini, heard some people knocking at the front and back doors and when they woke up they discovered it was the police,” he said.
Nkantini said the police’s presence in the yard was alarming considering that the gates were locked.
“We asked them how they had gained access and they said that was not important – if someone is dying inside, where we would enter,” he said.
Siyavuya claimed some police officers were inside shining torches while others were waiting outside with police vans.
Siyavuya said he and his father had asked police officers for their names.
But according to Siyavuya, police refused to give names and, instead, said that they were looking for Siyavuya’s older brother, Sicelo Nkantini.
According to Siyavuya, Sicelo was not with them on the night as he was sleeping at his girlfriend’s place.
They phoned him and told him that the police were looking for him.
Sicelo said: “Siyavuya phoned me and I came home. When I arrived there were five police outside the gate with the van and two inside.
“The gate was still locked so they had jumped over the fence to gain entry.”
He said police told him that he was accused of buying a stolen amplifier and plasma TV.
He asked them for a search warrant, but he said they did not have one.
Sicelo said the police officers in the yard wanted him to open the gate for other police officers who were outside.
He promised to open the gate on condition that they give him their names.
He said the officers identified themselves as K9 unit officers Constable Trollip and Constable Soyi, both from Port Alfred Police Station.
“They entered the house and turned everything upside down without a search warrant. They said to me a guy who is in custody and accused of stealing these things told them he sold them to me. But they did not find anything,” Sicelo said.
Sicelo said police were accompanied by the person whose goods had been stolen.
Complaining about the damage which he accused police of doing, Sicelo said: “They have broken the poles when they jumped over the fence, and our dignity was undermined.”
TotT e-mailed repeated requests for comment to police spokeswoman Captain Mali Govender, but she failed to respond.
When I arrived there were five police outside the gate with the van and two inside