Uproar at recall of JMPD cadets
'Psychological blow' to recruits Inadequate training blamed Unable to properly use firearms
THEY were meant to be a game changer in the fight against crime on the streets of Johannesburg – a new crop of officers who would double the size of the metro police force.
But a year after they had their passing out parade, the 1 085 cadets are the victims of alleged political interference over claims they had been inadequately trained.
The officers were recruited in April 2018, and after completing a two-year training programme were recalled after graduating from training college.
According to JMPD spokesperson, Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar, the Road Traffic Management Corporation had found that their training was not adequate, and they were sent back to the academy for more training.
But for many of the cadets – whose families watched them proudly in the brown and blue of the metro police during their passing out parade – the recall to the academy has been a psychological blow.
“Like any young people who have graduated, they were ready to hit their new job. Then a political leader goes to the public without consulting them and says they are useless,” said Michael Sun,
“NOW I know where to find you”.
These were allegedly the chilling words Andrea Venter heard when she answered the 34th call from her former boyfriend, Gerhardus Jansen van Vuuren.
He was brought back to South Africa yesterday from Brazil as a fugitive from justice, wanted for the alleged brutal killing of Venter in May 2011.
Yesterday Andrea’s father, Dries Venter, confirmed he had been advised that Jansen van Vuuren, one of South Africa’s most wanted fugitives, would arrive back in the country where he will finally stand trial for the murder of Andrea after having gone on the run from the law in 2013.
“I have been informed he will be appearing in court on Monday and I will be there. It is difficult as all the wounds have been cracked open again,” said Dries. He added that his wife Annetjie passed away of a heart attack in 2016 and will not see her daughter’s alleged killer face justice.
“He (Jansen van Vuuren) said if he can’t have her, then no one could have her. He kept calling and on the 34th the former MMC for public safety.
“Many feel now that it is not worth their while, and they say they feel worthless.”
Political parties are blaming each other. Fikile-ntsikelelo Moyo, the spokesperson for Johannesburg executive mayor Geoff Makhubo, said the problem lay with former DA mayor Herman Mashaba.
“They were not ready to leave but a political decision was made to pass them out,” he said. “He was motivated to leave a legacy and he wanted to go out with a bang.”
Mashaba, however, said that the training of the new cadets had nothing to do with him. “This was a political decision. At the end of the day who suffers are the residents because they are paying for a service they are not getting. And this was a decision made to embarrass me.”
Sun pointed out that there were irregularities in how the cadets were forced to undergo retraining. “It is procedurally wrong and there is a huge legal concern about the steps taken. We are simply not seeing the documentation that should be there,” he said.
He added that individual cadets call, she answered and he said, ‘now I know where to find you’,” the father alleged.
He confirmed Andrea was the first test tube baby born in Rustenburg and was their much loved miracle baby, for whom he and his wife had waited for more than 12 years. should have been given documentation outlining where they had fallen short with their training, rather than a blanket fail.
“As I like to explain it, it is like a
When Jansen van Vuuren was dating their daughter, Dries said in a previous interview with ENCA, that he had often threatened to kill both himself and his wife.
Andrea, who was an accountant and would have celebrated her 25th birthday in August 2011, had fled her matric class. If one of the class fails maths, it doesn’t mean that the whole class fails. This is what has happened here,” Sun said.
South African Police Union (Sapu) hometown of Rustenburg to allegedly escape from an aggressive Jansen van Vuuren. She had applied for a protection order against him.
She moved to Fourways in Johannesburg, where he allegedly stalked and waited for her to arrive home at the complex where she stayed in May 2011. general secretary Oscar Skommere told the Saturday Star that they had received feedback that the cadets had been unable to properly use their firearms.
“There was a general complaint with regard to members being unable to utilise firearms,” said Skommere.
“That means that there is an issue of competence at the training college. When you graduate from the training college you must know properly how to apply the law, how to arrest, how to utilise firearms, how to drive properly, and take statements and write dockets.
“If the cadets aren’t being taught properly then there needs to be a serious relook at the training.
“As Sapu, we would like to appeal to JMPD to ensure that training programmes are properly implemented and monitored... because this poses a risk to the community and members themselves if training is not properly defined and executed.”
Sun said that the whole affair had cost the residents of Joburg money as
She was punched in the face with a knuckle duster and stabbed 14 times and died at the scene. The murder was caught on security cameras and a security guard tried to intervene.
According to reports, Jansen van Vuuren tried to slash his own throat in a suicide bid, but failed. He was arrested at the scene and appeared in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court, where police successfully opposed bail twice. When the case was brought before the Johannesburg High Court, he was granted bail. the cadets were forced into lockdown because of the Covid pandemic and could not attend training.
“If they had been deployed, we would have seen a major improvement in terms of traffic management.
“They would have dealt with it by law enforcement and they could have been sent to crime hot spots where you have smash-and-grabs and hijackings. And they would have been led by more experienced officers,” he said.
However, Moyo countered: “They are not making Johannesburg safer, as there is no evidence that they are proficient at anything.the City has to pay for this retraining and we have nothing political to gain.”
According to sources there is an investigation into the whole matter.
However, the potential good news for the citizens of Johannesburg is that if all goes well, the city could at the end of the year have the largest metro police force in the country ready to hit the streets and fight crime.
Four days before the start of his murder trial in May 2013, two years after the murder, Jansen van Vuuren fled the country on a false passport under the name Daniel Joseph Mouton. A warrant of arrest was issued by Interpol Pretoria to track down the missing suspect.
In August 2013, he was arrested by Brazilian police on a charge of false documentation and was sentenced to four years and four months for passport fraud, but was inexplicably released in 2016, after serving just two years.
He disappeared again, but in June this year was rearrested in Rio de Janeiro in a joint operation between Interpol Pretoria, the National Prosecuting Authority and Brazilian authorities.
On Thursday night, SAPS national spokesperson, Brigadier Vish Naidoo, said Jansen van Vuuren was to arrive at OR Tambo in Johannesburg on Friday 1pm. Police confirmed early yesterday afternoon that he had landed and was being processed at immigration.
SAPS Commissioner, General Khehla Sitole, said: “This is indeed victory for us as a service. Thank you to the team who didn’t give up, even after years of hard work. Our focus is to bring closure to family and friends of the deceased, as well as to ensure that justice is served.”
It is difficult as all the wounds have been cracked open again
Dries Venter
ANDREA’S FATHER