I heard a bang; when I opened the bedroom door there was a gun in my face. It was like a horrible movie playing in our house.” Su-ann Tracey gave a chilling account of police brutality and their violation of human rights in her Promosa home at around 04:00 on Sunday morning.
According to the Tracey family, about sixteen masked men in black uniform entered their house without identifying themselves. They were not wearing badges and did not produce a search warrant. They were apparently part of a police division based in Pretoria.
The family is still traumatised after they went on the rampage and maliciously damaged their property.
According to Su-ann, they cut the chain on the gate and broke every bedroom door in the house.
“We told them the 4-year-old girl and the heavily pregnant woman in the other room would be severely traumatised by their actions. But they did not listen and just told us to ‘shut up’ and ‘voetsek’,” she says.
They proceeded to Attie Solomon’s bedroom and broke down his door.
“I thought they were robbers,” says Attie, whose wife is a high-risk pregnancy patient.
“We have already lost five babies. They pointed a firearm at me and told me to lie on the floor. At the same time, another policeman was pointing a firearm at my wife. She was distraught. Our daughter also put up her hands.”
“When they took me outside, I saw my mother-in-law, Sophie, being led down the passage into the other bedroom with raised arms and a gun at her back,” he said.
Attie says they went to inspect their tuck shop in the garage and asked about the car in the yard.
“All they said was that they were looking for ‘Dean’. We told them we don’t know anyone by that name. After a few minutes, one of them said they had the wrong address and they all left without an apology,” he said.
Attie says his little girl is still traumatised.
“The headmaster called on Monday morning to say there was something wrong with my child.”
Su-ann says everyone in the house was shaking.
“We never slept at all yesterday because we thought they were coming back,” she said.
The family reported the incident to both the Ikageng Police and the provincial office. To add salt to their wounds, they found the same policemen at the Ikageng police station.
“One of them admitted they had been to our house but another one denied it. They told us to ‘voetsek!’
“Those are not normal people. It was like they were on drugs,” says Attie.
When the family tried to open a case at the Ikageng station, the sergeant on duty shouted at them and told them this was her territory.
“She had a bad attitude until the men in black left the station; then she was suddenly prepared to take our statement,” he says.
According to the NW SAPS spokesperson, Col Sabata Mokgwabone, the family has opened a case of malicious damage to property, which is currently under investigation.
“There were a number of SAPS members involved in the raids. Whether or not violence was necessary will be determined by the investigation and the courts. The family can also seek the intervention of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID),” he said.
-TDN
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