Last week we wrote how the police in the Western Cape are spending taxpayer money by hiring private security firms to protect themselves. It has now been revealed that the Magistrates in Cape Town are now too scared to preside over and try criminal cases involving PAGAD. Visitors to the Victoria Waterfront in Cape Town have dwindled to a trickle. Two bombs exploded there recently and gang shootings are not uncommon. Over 170 bombs exploded in the Western Cape last year and the police have not had a single conviction for them.  

The crime statistics for 1998 have now been released by the Police. However, they only tell part of the story. The government gave the police a directive to understate the crimes committed. Then there are the many burglaries, rapes, serious assaults and drug related incidents that are not even reported to the police. Many people do not even bother to report a crime because it takes up to two years  to bring a case before the overcrowded courts. The complainants must attend Court every time during this period and this is most time consuming as they have to sit around for hours and even days waiting for the case to be heard. 

According to the Police crime statistics, 18,000 people were murdered last year. 
Many murders are not even reported in the newspapers. We believe that this is the area of under reporting by the police. 

Furthermore, an estimated 36,400 women had been raped. This is also grossly under reported as adverts on our TV state that a woman is raped every three minutes in South Africa, which means the actual number of women raped are over 525,000  last year.       

The statistics show that 170,000 houses and 70,700 businesses were burgled last year. Then there were 11,550  vehicles hijacked with many motorists murdered for their vehicles. A further 89,900 cars were stolen and there were 142,450 thefts from vehicles. There were also 171,000 assaults with intent to do grievous bodily harm. 

The Police statistics only give a reported 30,800 drug related incidents. This should be much higher and probably is, because the police are not acting against the purveyors of death and destruction, the drug dealers. Mainline drugs are peddled openly on street corners in South Africa. 

Violence aimed at property included 94,850 cases of malicious damage to property and 7,700 cases of arson. 

In the category for commercial crime, there were 4,000  cases per month of reported cases of fraud, forgeries and embezzlements. Most companies do not even report these crimes as they know the conviction rate is very low. Corrupt Black police have been known to sell entire police dockets to the accused.  

The case of the ANC man, Colin Chauke bears special mention. He is wanted for 17 counts of murder and 30 counts of armed robbery. He is supposed to be the most wanted man in South Africa.  He was arrested last year on charges of armed robbery and murder. A spiked chain was thrown across the road in the path of an armoured cash in transit vehicle. The guards were murdered and the robbers got away with R17,5 million(US $3million) . This was only one of a few similar cash heists which were accompanied with brutal murders. Very little of the money have been recovered and we have always maintained that the money was destined for the ANC election coffers. 

After the incident, the police received a tip off and went to a home in a Johannesburg suburb. There they found R640,000 still intact in bank bags from the R17,5 million heist.  A police officer recognised one of the occupants. He gave the officer a false name and he was carrying a false ID document.  The police merely confiscated the money and told the occupants of the house to report later for questioning.  

Many weeks later and after an outcry by the public, Colin Chauke and several others were arrested by the police. They were incarcerated in a maximum section of the Pretoria Central prison. There they were visited and allegedly counseled by no less than Sydney Mufamadi, Minister Of Safety and Security himself. A few days later they all escaped by simply walking out of the prison.

Most of the alleged murderers were caught and they are presently on trial. One of them was shot and killed by the police while he was in custody. However, Colin Chauke remained free.

Mandela's favourite cop, Bushy Engelbrecht, a senior White officer, was specially instructed to handle the case.  He vowed that Colin Chauke would be behind bars before Christmas. Christmas came and Christmas is gone and Colin Chauke is still a free man. He was last seen attending a party at an ANC Cabinet Ministers house and even spoke on a local Radio Station. It is alleged that he sent the National Commissioner Of Police, George Fivas, a Christmas card, which Fivas denies.

The police now revealed that Colin Chauke was already on the run when he was arrested, after escaping from prison during 1990. Colin Chauke is a senior ANC man and a member a former operative of the ANC terrorist organisation MK. 
This fact and with the events that took place, places the ANC right in the middle of the entire Colin Chauke episode. Now that they fail (or are reluctant?) to catch him, they allege that he was a double agent for the previous government. It is the old story! Everything must be blamed on the "apartheid regime" or be blamed on the "legacy of apartheid". In this case the facts speak for themselves.

NB. At the time of writing, police disclosed that they arrested Colin Chauke at a Nelspruit roadblock last night.  It will be most interesting to see what happens next.