Cape Town - Residents served by the Muizenberg policing precinct are up in arms over the court case against Muizenberg station commander Vassie Naidoo because of a spike in crime in the area.
Naidoo, deputy station commander Margaret Rossouw and two others from the station have been charged with 24 counts of intimidation, the pointing of a firearm, defeating the administration of justice, extortion, assault, fraud, forgery and issuing of a forged document.
Naidoo took over the station in December 2018 and was lauded for the improved performance just months after he started steering the ship.
Various residential and security associations from Marina Da Gama, Muizenberg, Kalk Bay and other areas that make use of the station have expressed outrage over his recent move out of the station due to the allegations.
In a letter addressed to provincial police commissioner Thembisile Patekile, they demand to know how Naidoo and others were charged. They seek clarity on why, two years after investigations by the Anti-Corruption Unit into alleged misconduct dating back to 2020, the charges have only been brought against them now.
Kate Wardle, the security director for the Kalk Bay/St James special rates area, said they feared crime would increase while Rossouw and Naidoo were absent.
“We want them vindicated and we want them back at our station. We believe that this is without basis; there were irregularities in the process, and we want it investigated. We want them to find out what happened because we feel these charges were laid spuriously, and we want the charges dropped.
“Our fear is that crime will increase again because we feel that colonels Naidoo and Rossouw are on the beat as dedicated and committed police people. They like to be on the street, they’re not sitting in the station. What we are seeing in this area is more gangster activity, drug dealing and a lot of drug abuse,” Wardle said.
Robin Carlisle, the founder of Marina Guardians, said: “When the colonel moved in, it was an impossible situation. He started cleaning up the gangsters very quickly. We want to know why such a serious thing as removing the station commander out of our precinct is done without even discussing it with the community policing forum.”
Naidoo and others are expected to appear in the Muizenberg Magistrate’s Court on Thursday, where residents are planning to gather to show support and demand his return to the station.
rafieka.williams@inl.co.za