Cops 'too drunk' to help victim

2007-11-06 07:36

Nathi Olifant

Durban - Two police officers at the Thornville police station have been accused of dereliction of duty after they were found drunk and asleep on the job when a hijack victim came looking for assistance on Saturday evening.

Sunshine Bakery bread van driver Vincent Ngcobo's woes started at about 14:00 as he and his assistant, Sbongile Memela, finished delivering bread in Edendale.

Four armed men on a narrow road in the Mpumuza area surprised the pair.

The gang grabbed Memela at gunpoint and forced him into a car before two of them drove the van off with Ngcobo still inside.

"It happened so quickly that I was not even aware where they were taking me, but I was dropped at Henley Dam. While they drove with me I thought: 'This is it and I'm going to die'," said Memela, adding that he was also worried about Ngcobo's safety.

Policemen should have helped

Sunshine Bakeries sales manager Lucky Naicker told The Witness that Ngcobo was dumped somewhere near Baynesfield. Naicker said Ngcobo walked to the Thornville police station, where he tried to open a case.

"He was there for two hours and no one assisted him and he said that the two policemen at the station were drunk. This allegation was repeated by the driver who went to pick him up," said Naicker.

Later when Naicker phoned the police station he spoke to an Inspector Khumalo, who he said sounded drunk.

Naicker said Ngcobo eventually managed to borrow a phone and call the bakery and a driver was dispatched to pick him up. Naicker said Ngcobo was very traumatised.

"What hurt him most was that the policemen who were there to help him did nothing," he said.

A police officer who spoke on condition of anonymity said Ngcobo could not have opened the case with Thornville police since the incident did not take place under their area of jurisdiction.

Naicker said he phoned 10111 and a spoke to a Captain Sithole who said she would phone the station commander of Thornville, a Captain Naude, who was at a function.

"She promised that she would go and see what was going on at the station." Naicker said 10111 also said they would send a vehicle to look for the bread van.

"The call was made at about 20:30 on Saturday, when no van arrived by 23:00, Ngcobo and the driver who had come to fetch him went home," said Naicker.

Naicker said the bakery only managed to lay a charge on Sunday afternoon at the Plessislaer police station.

"By then the van had long gone with its cargo of bread valued at about R10 000. Police have subsequently told me that Thornville should have opened a docket."

"I'm very upset at this level of inefficiency and appalled by the allegation of drunkenness."

"But I'm even more upset that my driver was visibly traumatised and no attempt was made to help him. The driver was very shaken that policeman made no attempt to help him," he said.

The van was found abandoned on Monday Baynesfield. About R9 000 in cash had been stolen, but nothing else, Naicker said.

Police spokesperson Senior Superintendent Henry Budhram said police have taken note of the allegations and investigations are under way.

Truck hijacking decreased in 2007 in the Midlands area, according to police statistics.

- The Witness