Fiji’s SA police chief fights off violent gang
A FORMER top South African cop has been hailed as a hero on the Pacific island of Fiji for using a chair to foil a robbery by five machetewielding robbers.
Ben Groenewald, 65, who retired with the rank of major-general from the South African Police Service in 2000, was appointed the south Pacific archipelego’s police commissioner in May last year on a two-year contract.
Last week, he was a guest at a food and wine pairing event in the capital city of Suva when the robbers struck — grabbing wine bottles from tables and hurling them at patrons while demanding money.
Pure police instinct spurred Groenewald — who was brought out of retirement to head the 2010 Soccer World Cup security committee — into action.
“I was seated at the back of the restaurant and could not see the entrance. I heard a commotion at the front.”
He initially dismissed it as a “drunken person making havoc”.
But then Groenewald, who spent 42 years in the South African police, decided to see what was happening — and was confronted by masked robbers.
Guns are banned on the Fijian islands, but the five men were armed with machetes and rocks.
“I grabbed a folding chair as a shield and ran towards them, shouting for them to get out.”
The robbers fled — but not before one threw a bottle of wine at Groenewald.
“The bottle hit the top of my head. I went down and when I came up again they were all out of restaurant.”
Groenewald had to have 13 stitches where the bottle hit him.
“Fortunately, one of the employees managed to get the number of the escape vehicle: that helped a lot in the following investigation.
“My investigation team managed to arrest and charge all five within two days.”
Groenewald attributed his reaction to the robbers as “pure police instinct”, or “maybe it was the adrenaline that motivated me”.
But his actions have been hailed by islanders and local media as those of a hero.
Restaurant manager Jodi Chang was quoted in the Fiji Times as de-
I grabbed a folding chair as a shield and ran towards them, shouting for them to get out
scribing how Groenewald told the crooks: “I am the police commissioner, please leave.”
Groenewald, who lives in Suva, on the island of Viti Levu, with his wife, Louise, was shortlisted for the job as Fiji’s top policeman in part because of his vast experience fighting crime.
“I was approached by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative in London, through mutual friends, to apply for the post.”
Fighting crime on the islands is not a major challenge.
“We are very fortunate that we don’t experience many serious crimes in Fiji: however, we [have been] confronted by an increase in burglaries and armed robberies for the past few months.
“Living in a gun-free environment is like pie from heaven,” Groenewald said, but added that Fiji’s police faced problems when confronting criminals.
“They attack you with cane knives, broken bottles and rocks, and unfortunately our operational training is not up to standard to counter these attacks,” Groenewald said.
“I am looking into the use of alternative non-lethal weapons.”
He said 4 334 police officers, including 1 000 reservists, served Fiji’s population of 860 000 people, although “the vastness of the islands” — the country consists of more than 300 — made the job a challenge.
Although Groenewald is fond of the country, he is looking forward to returning home to Pretoria next year when his contract ends.