Hawks under fire again
Marchers in Durban call for end to ‘Hollywood-style’ arrests by unit
MARCHERS in Durban called for the Hawks to end their “Hollywood-style” arrests of politicians in the country.
This followed a similar march in Johannesburg calling for an end to this practice by the crime-fighting unit.
The Hawks have recently swooped on politicians and officials linked to alleged tender fraud.
The march in Durban yesterday came weeks after ANC secretarygeneral Ace Magashule’s supporters marched in central Johannesburg, demanding that the Hawks stop their publicised arrests.
The Durban marchers organised themselves under the banner of “eThekwini Interfaith” but most of them wore full ANC regalia.
Among them were supporters of former eThekwini mayor, Zandile Gumede, who is facing fraud and corruption charges.
In song and dance, the marchers carried placards expressing support for former president Jacob Zuma, Magashule, Andile Lungisa and Zoe Shabalala (a senior eThekwini municipality councillor). Occasionally they chanted slogans in support of Gumede.
Some placards expressed dissatisfaction with the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture, with some questioning why the Steinhoff fraud was not investigated despite glaring evidence of alleged fraud by the company’s former boss, Markus Jooste
Marching from King Dinizulu Park and through the city centre to the city hall, the marchers claimed that the “Hollywood-style” arrests by the Hawks were meant to humiliate those apprehended.
Also not spared during the march was the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
One speaker, Bishop Mfundo Gumede, said it was puzzling that the NPA was “selective in its prosecution”.
“The main calls in our memorandum today are as follows: political motivation (in prosecutions). This does not sit well with us. Again, we are not happy with how the State conducts itself before effecting arrests – arrest and investigate later,” Gumede said while speaking to the marchers in front the Durban City Hall.
“The third one is when they bring cameras (the media) before they make arrests. As the clergy under the (eThekwini Interfaith) we view that as dehumanising. This is what makes us feel that our police, the Hawks, don’t aim at their target the right way … as pastors, we are saying this should be urgently corrected.”
The spokesperson for the NPA in the province, Natasha Kara, said when they were made aware of the march that touched on their work, they decided to send a representative to receive the memorandum.
Kara said the memorandum would be handed over to the Director of Public Prosecutions in the KwaZulu-Natal, advocate Elaine Zungu.
“She (Zungu) will address whatever is in the memorandum,” Kara said outside the city hall. The marchers accused the NPA of being “captured by political and private bosses”.
The Hawks did not send a representative to receive the memorandum. Spokesperson of the unit in the province, Captain Simphwie Mhlongo, asked to be given time to check with the head of the unit on whether or not he knew about the march.