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Ex-ANC official tried to stop Mthembu from being arrested |
| Police officers did not want to open a case MOMENTS after senior ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu was pulled over for driving in the N2 bus lane yesterday morning, the party's former Western Cape chairman, Mcebisi Skwatsha, apparently pulled up and stopped officers from handcuffing him. This is according to Ghost Squad members who stopped Mthembu, 51, early yesterday on the N2 near the Pinelands, Cape Town, offramp. They said they detected "a strong smell of alcohol" on Mthembu's breath and arrested him. But they said Skwatsha first prevented them from handcuffing Mthembu and then officers at the Mowbray police station initially refused to open a drunk driving case. Soon after his arrest, Mthembu was taken to the the Safely Home Anti Drunk-driving Operations War Room, commonly known as the Shadow, in Athlone, where he was tested with a breathalyser, which showed he was more than three times over the legal limit. Yesterday, barely an hour after he was released from police custody on R500 bail, Mthembu happily spoke to reporters on his cellphone and confirmed he was to appear in the Wynberg Magistrate's Court on March 24. He refused to say where he had been driving to or from. "Can we rather leave that for the court?" he asked. Mayoral committee member for safety and security JP Smith said Ghost Squad members - undercover police officers - patrolling the N2's dedicated bus lane pulled Mthembu over after 7am because he was driving in the bus lane in a rented Audi A3 hatchback. "The officer had no idea who he was. She got a strong smell of alcohol on him, so she wanted to arrest him. Soon afterwards, though, Skwatsha pulled over, even though he is not allowed in the bus lane, and told the officers they mustn't handcuff Mthembu." Smith said the Ghost Squad members took Mthembu to the Mowbray police station, but "someone may have called ahead, saying they were coming". "The officer at the desk wasn't keen on opening a case. An SAPS officer then made a comment that the metro police officers who arrested Mthembu should themselves be arrested." The Ghost Squad members had then taken Mthembu to the Shadow centre between 7am and 8am. "His results showed 0.85, while the legal limit is 0.24, which means he was nearly four times over that. We've got video footage and audio recordings from the second he was brought into the facility to the second he left," Smith said. Mthembu was then taken back to the Mowbray police station at about 9am, where a case was eventually opened. An investigator looking into the matter, who did not want to be named, said there were more hassles at the station when SAPS officers gave the Ghost Squad two case numbers. If a wrong case number was placed on the breathalyser results, it could have been rejected by the court. He added that once the correct case number was given, the Mowbray police station's commissioner, May-Louise Dyers, had reprimanded the implicated SAPS members and sorted the matter out. Skwatsha and ANC member Kholeka Mqulwana were also spotted at the station yesterday while Mthembu was being processed. He was eventually released on bail after 1pm. When reporters contacted Skwatsha and asked him about the incident, he repeatedly responded: "No comment." Asked whether he had interfered with the officers arresting Mthembu, he said: "No. I don't think that's true." He referred queries to ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe, whose cellphone remained off. The ANC's interim party leader in the province, Membathisi Mdladlana, yesterday reacted in shock when reporters asked about Mthembu's arrest. "I'm hearing this from you for the first time," he exclaimed. "I didn't know Mthembu is in the Western Cape," Mdladlana said. In a media release issued last night, Community Safety MEC Lennit Max said he had requested a full report from the provincial police commissioner, Mzwandile Petros. He said he had also requested an investigation from the Directorate for Compliance Monitoring and Investigation regarding the alleged reluctance of the SAPS officers. Police spokesman Frederick van Wyk said he would have to contact Dyers to find out what happened. Police spokeswoman Angie Latchman, speaking on behalf of the Mowbray police station, said the matter was being dealt with at a provincial level By Caryn Dolley The Star 12/03/10e1 Click here to respond to this article - Your responses will get vetted and printed on "Have your Say" |
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