Violence and chaos erupt as police arrest alleged rapist

GRAAFF-REINET — A 32-year-old woman was allegedly raped by her ex-boyfriend at about 08:00 on Sunday, January 21, in Geluksdal, Graaff-reinet.

Members of the Graaff-reinet SAPS, accompanied by officers from Public Order Policing, went to Club Underground in the area and arrested a suspect, the owner of the club, Nathan Jacobs.

After bringing Jacobs out from the club, he was taken to his Avanza vehicle, which was parked across the road from the club.

The vehicle was suspected of being used in the crime, and needed to be searched, in his presence.

While this was happening, according to Brig Rudolph Adolph, the crowd gathered around became unruly, throwing stones at the police and shouting defiantly at them.

Some of the crowd tried to protect Jacobs and keep him from the police, so the police initially used stun grenades to try to disperse the crowd.

When this had no effect, first rubber bullets and then tear gas was used to contain the situation, as the crowds kept surging back. This was done in order to protect both Jacobs and the police, as well as innocent civilians.

Jacobs was taken into custody and detained, before appearing in court on January 22 accused of rape. He was remanded, in custody, until February 6, for a formal bail application.

There was much outrage among some members of the community at what was seen as unnecessary heavy-handed action from the police. Some horrific tales were posted on social media, and Cllr Samantha Graham took it upon herself to find out more about these claims.

One such report said that the violence started after Jacob’s father came back from the shop and when he tried to enter his property, the police pointed a gun at him and threatened him. According to Brig Adolph, this is not true, and Jacob’s father is not even known to the police who were at the scene.

Cllr Graham was also told that a policewoman had made a video of the whole incident, but the officer was adamant that very few rubber bullets, grenades and tear gas canisters were discharged, which the community is disputing.

Brig Adolph’s response to this was that the police had used just enough to disperse the hostile crowds. Members of the community also said that some people had been injured by the rubber bullets, but no injuries were reported to the police.

Brig Adolph explained why the Public Order Policing unit was also sent to the incident. In the past, the SAPS have encountered violence at the same venue, to the extent that in one incident a police vehicle was set alight.

To protect the SAPS members, the suspect and the many innocent members of the community, extra personnel were deployed.

In reply to a complaint that, when a woman called the police on 10111 to find out what was happening, the operator refused to give them any information or assistance, Brig Adolph commented that he had listened to the recording of that conversation.

On it, the woman started swearing at the operator, who tried to calm her down. Apparently, she demanded to speak to a senior officer but was told that no-one was available to assist at the time, and she was welcome to go to the station the next day with her complaint.

A serious concern posted on social media and related to Cllr Graham is that two houses down from the club, lives a family with a child suffering from cerebral palsy.

Members of the community apparently ran into the house, screaming, which was terrifying for the child. In addition, the whole house was full of green smoke from the tear gas and one of the stun grenades landed outside the bedroom window of the house.

Between the screaming people and the gun shots, the child became hysterical and started to have fits. Cllr Graham was told that when the family called the hospital to send an ambulance, they were told that the child needs to be sick before an ambulance can come out. The Advertiser has been unable to contact the hospital to ascertain whether this is, in fact, the policy and if a disabled child fitting is not classified as sick.

Brig Adolph is extremely concerned that a criminal element in the community was actually trying to prevent an alleged rape suspect from being arrested.

“Many members of the community criticise the police for not doing enough to take criminals off the street, and complain about drugs and violence in their areas - but when we act against this, those criminal elements try to protect the suspects, and the community allows them to oppose us,” stated the Brigadier.

“We are determined not to allow criminals to influence the community in this way” he concluded.

Rubber bullet casings and empty tear gas grenade canisters picked up by residents of Geluksdal following an altercation between police and members of the public.