No progress on Zwelihle police brutality investigation

No progress has been made with investigations into injuries inflicted by police during the recent protests in Zwelihle, near Hermanus, according to Zwelihle Renewal committee member Siyabulela Notwala.

Police minister Bheki Cele said he would notify the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) after a meeting on 24 July at which Zwelihle residents presented him with about 60 injured people, including an 11-year-old child with an arm in a sling, an old man whose leg was in a plaster cast, and two people who had each lost an eye.

The township has been rocked by protests since the beginning of the year, centred on a controversial land deal in neighbouring Schulphoek. During the protests residents also complained about broken promises and blamed municipal mismanagement and corruption for their lack of housing.

Notwala said IPID had come once, the week after Cele’s visit, and had promised to return. But they had not yet met the injured or started the investigation. A meeting set for 19 August had been rescheduled to 26 August, he said.

The minister’s spokesperson Reneilwe Serero said the 19 August meeting had been cancelled by the residents. Notwala said the meeting had been cancelled by another community leader. He said the minister was supposed to return on 21 August to address the community but had not.

“We are waiting to hear when the minister will be coming back again,” he said.

Notwala said there had been no progress in Zwelihle since Cele’s visit. “There is no improvement. A lot of people are being fired from work. Their employers are saying they lost money during the protests. We are hoping there will be change when the minister gets here,” said Notwala.

Calls and messages from GroundUp to the IPID media office since last Friday have not been returned.

Donate using SnapScan.