TAURIQ HASSEN
Claremont police have invoked the ire of the community when they did not respond to an accident involving five cars in Newlands on Thursday March 17.
It was Craig Irving who made the first call to Rondebosch and Claremont police stations, followed by another 11 calls.
For the next hour and forty-five minutes, they waited for assistance – and a response.
“SAPS never arrived,” he said. “How is it possible that after two hours, SAPS can ignore this type of event?”
Mr Irving also claimed a police vehicle had passed the scene, its occupants apparently showing no interest in what had happened.
”As such, we never had the opportunity to test the blood of drivers, validate identification documents and generally calm the people involved,” Mr Irving said.
Rondebosch police spokesperson, Warrant Officer Lyndon Sisam said the accident did not happen within their precinct, and so they would not have responded to the call. And Wynberg Cluster spokesperson, Captain Angie Latchman, denied that the station had received any reports of the accident.
“According to the records of SAPS Claremont, there was no official report received. This office cannot confirm the details of the accident as no report was received,” she said.
Claremont police urged Mr Irving to come forward and lay a formal complaint regarding the non-attendance of police to the incident in question, so that the matter can be fully investigated.
Captain Latchman said when an accident occurs, police are required to immediately go out to the scene, ascertain what happened and what assistance is required and notifying services such as the ambulance, traffic department, Metro police, fire department if required.
However, Captain Latchman said that SAPS “will not condone any misconduct on the part of its members”.
The complaint has not been taken lightly by the Claremont Community Police Forum, who has passed on the matter to the relevant officials for further investigation and answers.
CPF chairperson and also the cexecutive manager for the Claremont Improvement District Company (CIDC), Abdul Kerbelker, found the complaint highly worrying.
“All complaints like this one are raised with the station commander.
“They investigate and contact the complainant after he has investigated the merits and provide the CPF with feedback,” he said.
”The CPF has also met with the CSC (Community Service Centre ) head at Claremont, to highlight our serious disappointment at the level of service at the CSC.
“The major issue at Claremont is the number of staff,” he said, adding that the CPF would be addressing this with police management.
He said Mr Irving’s complaint would be investigated and that he would receive a response from the police.