'The law will take its course'

2008-07-18 10:26

Llewellyn Prince

Cape Town - The Western Cape police chief, Commissioner Mzwandile Petros, said his 18-year-old son would not receive special treatment after he was arrested along with four other men for hijacking a car in Khayelitsha.

Provincial police management is also investigating the possibility that Lwazi Yanga Mzito and the men were involved in other hijackings in the city.

Mzito and the others appeared in Khayelitsha Magistrate's Court on Wednesday on a charge of armed robbery. The case was postponed until August for bail. They will remain in custody until then.

Mzito, who will turn 19 in December, was staying with his mother in Mandalay at the time of the incident. After her relationship with Petros ended, his mother married again. It could not be confirmed on Thursday whether Mzito was still at school.

Hijackings on the rise

Petros announced earlier this month that hijackings, along with robberies at homes and armed robberies on business premises, were the only crimes that increased significantly over the past year in the Western Cape.

He then said that syndicates were mostly behind the hijackings and that investigations had shown that the same individuals were in some cases responsible for several of the hijackings in the metropole.

Petros was not present when his spokesperson Director Novela Potelwa, made information regarding his son's arrest known to the media at the weekly meeting with the press. The meeting was held at the provincial police headquarters in Green Point.

Pro-active

Potelwa said Petros had decided to be "pro-active by making the information known himself, before the media heard about it somewhere else and then asked us questions about it".

"Commissioner Petros only wants to inform you that the proper procedures have been followed and that the law will take its course."

Potelwa said another reason was the agreement police had with the South African National Editors' Forum (Sanef) to be transparent when it came to informing the media about incidents of crime

"As part of our anti-crime successes we therefore announce that the suspects were arrested on July 6 for hijacking in Site B, Khayelitsha.

"The five (suspects) approached the complainant while he was sitting in his car chatting to friends. They threatened the man with a weapon and hijacked his vehicle.

"Further investigations into the identities of the suspects, brought to light that one of the five was Lwazi Yanga Mzito of Mandalay.

"He is the son of the provincial commissioner from a previous relationship."

Bail will be opposed

Potelwa said the case was postponed to August 7 for a formal bail application.

"The police want to emphasise that we will strongly oppose bail. The commissioner (Petros) has indicated that he (his son) will be treated like any other suspect."

She said the investigation was continuing and there would be an investigation to probe whether the suspects can be linked to other cases.

- Die Burger