Cape Town - Western Cape Premier Alan Winde has expressed his disappointment at confirmation that some top police management were colluding with gangs, essentially assisting them in running their cartels unhampered by SAPS investigations.
Winde said in a statement on Monday, following the release of a final report by the Western Cape Police Ombud on the alleged links between gangsters and SAPS in the Western Cape.
According to Winde, the report which, was investigated by Police Ombud Retired Major General Oswald Reddy, found evidence that gang members had infiltrated the top management structures of the police service in the province, and were accessing key documents and strategies on crime fighting.
Winde said: “We have to act within our limited mandate on this issue to confirm what many residents of the Western Cape have long suspected, that some SAPS members are working with gangsters, effectively abandoning their oath to protect and serve, instead choosing to make many of our gang-stricken communities even more unsafe.”
“I am now carefully studying the Ombud’s report, which concluded that the allegations are likely substantiated, and considering my next steps. There must be decisive consequences for those found to be colluding with gangs.”
Winde said senior officials under whose watch corruption was allowed to take place would also feel the heat.
He said: “One of the first steps that I took this week on this matter is that I met with the Saps Western Cape provincial Commissioner Thembisile Patekile to discuss the findings of the report. I will be holding further engagements on the Ombud’s report and will share this with the public as soon as I am in a position to do so.”
“What is clear is that this infiltration likely extends far beyond this particular case and also that dangerous forces are at play here. We must be decisive and considered in our next steps to address this issue, making sure we can break these links and make headway against gangsterism,” Winde said.
As part of his investigation, Reddy reportedly gave Western Cape SAPS management an opportunity to respond to the judgment. He is also said to have consulted with the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID).