Witness protection a deadly gamble

SECURITY experts and witnesses who are in the witness protection programme have called on the government and the National Prosecuting Authority to create an elite and specialised unit to secure the safety and lifestyle of valuable witnesses.

Witnesses are either killed before they can take the stand or they are left to fend for themselves, eating leftovers meant for prisoners.

They have now called on authorities to create an elite law enforcement unit which could relocate vital witnesses to any part of Southern Africa and help to rebuild their lives where their identities are not known.

On Saturday, March 12, Naeem Benjamin, who allegedly orchestrated the hit on activist Roegshanda Pascoe, died during a gang shooting in Manenberg.

Pascoe, who survived the hit, went live on Facebook, stating she did not rejoice in his death, but sympathised with his family.

Pascoe’s life changed dramatically in July 2016 when she and Manenberg residents watched helplessly as Angelo Davids, an alleged member of the Hard Livings gang, was attacked and killed.

Pascoe braved coming forward after others refused, and on March 6, 2019, unknown gunmen opened fire on her home, the day before she was to testify. She was moved to safety with her children, three grandchildren and sonin-law.

Unlike many others, Pascoe lived to take the witness stand.

Pascoe has declared the witness protection programme in South Africa non-existent. She has done the necessary paperwork to be part of the NPA’s programme, but knew her family would not be safe and sought help from an organisation she works with.

This organisation partly funds her accommodation, food and security and has placed her and her family in a secret location.

“When you put in an application, the investigating officer told me what to do and gave me the paperwork and we can apply. But it will only be until I am done testifying. That is when I said no, I cannot do this to my family. How can I guarantee their safety after I am done testifying? I know what happens to witnesses.”

A crime fighter in Lavender Hill who had witnessed several crimes said he had bypassed being in witness protection because he said it was signing one’s own death certificate. “The people that I know, who were in witness protection, were all killed. The police are dirty,” he said.

Eldrid de Klerk, senior associate at the African Centre for Security and Intelligence Praxis, said a separate law enforcement programme had to be in place for there to be a successful witness protection unit which involved a case handler.

“We need to move witness protection, it is under the NPA, but often it is given by police who form the security around the person,” De Klerk said.

“We need a separate division for witness protection. The NPA needs its own justice officers, or marshals, call them what you like. We need officers who are trained and briefed.”

NPA spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila did not respond to questions and referred the Weekend Argus to their official website.

“Permanent protection doesn’t mean you’ll be in the protection programme for the rest of your life. Permanent protection lasts as long as the threat against you lasts, plus a phasing-out period of six weeks,” the website reads.

The Department of Justice was also approached and said it was a matter for the NPA.