SAPS, METRO COPS 'TURF WAR' ERUPTS

Oh good grief! Clearly someone's palms were being greased. I wonder what the outcome of this was.

SAPS, Metro cops 'turf war' erupts
December 20 2006 at 11:36AM
By Miranda Andrew and Bongani Mthembu

An investigation has been launched into whether a few members of the South African Police Service (SAPS) protected criminals by trying to prevent their Metro counterparts from making a liquor bust this week. This is the basis of a damning investigation launched by both police units in the wake of a raid at a notorious shebeen in phoenix, north of Durban, on Monday. The incident has again highlighted serious rifts between the two forces, and on Tuesday led to Metro Police deputy head Titas Malaza calling for an end to the turf war.

In a letter leaked to the Daily News, the Metro Police has asked the SAPS and the Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) to investigate the circumstances surrounding the raid which saw the two police forces at each other's throats.

'Metro officers held the operation as part of their festive season clampdown on shebeens'

Metro Police allege that on Monday they had seized 12 crates of illegal liquor, valued at about R5 000, as well as R3 000 in cash from High Shaparel, a popular shebeen in Phoenix. The venue has been operating illegally without a permit for the past 30 years. While Metro Police handcuffed the alleged culprits, local SAPS officers, who were unaware of the raid, arrived and apparently tried to prevent the arrests.

Metro officers held the operation as part of their festive season clampdown on shebeens. They had set a police trap for shebeen staff and made three arrests. However, within five minutes of the arrests, officers from the Phoenix SAPS arrived at the scene and allegedly tried to prevent Metro Police from detaining the suspects for dealing in liquor without a licence. "The SAPS members did not even know that we were holding an operation, so the question is who in the shebeen contacted them and why? We believe that someone is in cahoots with the shebeen staff and the owner," said a high-ranking Metro Police officer on Tuesday. "They refused to help and instead told us to let the three men go. It was obvious that the SAPS members knew the suspects."

An official warning was given to the SAPS members by the Metro policemen, who then tried to have the suspects placed in the Phoenix Police Station's holding cells. At the station, certain SAPS members allegedly refused to co-operate and refused to hold the three suspects. In a report sent to the ICD and to the SAPS Provincial Commissioner, Hamilton Ngidi, on Tuesday, Metro Police named certain SAPS officers for allegedly interfering in their operation. "The officer in the charge office at first refused to accept all three suspects and stated that only one suspect could be arrested. An argument lasted for about an hour until one Metro member decided to call his superiors. Only then did they accept the suspects." KZN assistant SAPS commissioner, Bala Naidoo said: "We view this matter in a very serious light and we will be conducting an immediate investigation into this," he said.