Fury over beach arrest ‘bungle’
Teenagers suspected of robberies at Sunrise Beach released
VICTIMS of a gang of armed robbers – operating along Sunrise Beach in Muizenberg – are infuriated after learning that police had their possible assailants in custody, but released them without contacting any of the complainants about laying charges.
Police released three teenagers who city law enforcement officials arrested on Tuesday last week on suspicion of a spate of robberies along the beach, telling the city that none of the complainants was prepared to lay charges.
But two of the complainants, interviewed by the Cape Argus after being held up at knife point last month, confirmed that they had not been aware of any arrests.
UCT lecturer Dr Tessa Dowling, who was held up by a gang of youths while walking with a friend at Sunrise beach, was ini- tially happy to hear arrests had been made but surprised she hadn’t been informed.
“That’s infuriating,” she said when told they had been released. “I want to lay charges and have them locked up.”
The assailants who threatened and robbed Dowling and her friend Jeremy Blackburn – the chief financial officer of the Baxter Theatre – were in their early to midteens.
One put a knife next to Dowling’s face and threatened her, before demanding she hand over her valuables. They also stole Blackburn’s cellphone and wallet.
Annemarie Sainsbury and her husband Chet Sainsbury, former race director of the Two Oceans Marathon, said they had also heard nothing about any arrests.
The couple, both in their 70s, were held up at knife point by five young men who robbed them while they were walking along the beach from Sandvlei to the Zeekoevlei outlet before Strandfontein on a Sunday afternoon, surrounded by other beachgoers.
They had been forced into the ocean by the knife-wielding thugs but not before being forced to hand over their watches.
Police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Andrè Traut yesterday confirmed that the teenagers, aged between 16 and 17, had been brought to Muizenberg police station
by the city’s law enforcement on Tuesday on suspicion of having committed crimes along the beach in Muizenberg. However, he says that due to a lack of evidence, they were not detained by police. He added that no robberies had been reported in that specific area last week.
When asked if previous victims had been contacted to see if they could identify the suspects, Traut said “arrest of a suspect is con- ducted in terms of the Criminal Procedure Act and a person can only be detained if sufficient grounds existed”.
On Friday the City of Cape Town’s mayoral committee member for Safety and Security JP Smith lashed out in a hard-hitting statement, saying that law enforcement agencies were under immense pressure to address crime and that it became very difficult to do so when members of the public who fall victim to criminals choose to turn their backs on the process.
“As a result, the suspects remain free and will more than likely continue committing crimes until someone is prepared to stand up, lay charges, and let them face the consequences of their actions.”
Smith, after being informed by the Cape Argus that the complainants had not been told of the arrests, said yesterday he had been given the information by the police. He was trying to get more clarity from “the police colonel who had told the officers people had refused to lay charges”.