Johannesburg – A Community Police Forum member (CPF) and his son-in-law were arrested on Monday night in connection with recent kidnappings in Lenasia.
The son-in-law is allegedly part of the syndicate led by suspected kingpin Faizal Charloos who was arrested ten days ago during the successful rescue operation of Luqman Kazi. Shahim Ismail, from Lethal Forces, expressed his shock and concern as the CPF man was very much a part of the community.
“He is a gentleman that used to patrol with us. He used his own vehicle. Whenever we had an incident, he was always the first there to offer support. Now looking at all the factors, although they use the word CPF, it is very very very honest and hardworking people in the CPF who hold my hand and we fight crime. What I’m saying here is it’s difficult for me to go and say that you did this knowing that he has been patrolling, knowing that he has been assisting in the community but the only thing I can look at is that he was the neighbour of the kingpin.”
A large sum of money, which is believed to be ransom money obtained from the kidnappings, and unlicensed ammunition was seized during the arrest. This has only solidified the belief of the community that the CPF member is involved with the kingpin in some way or form.
“Now what they’re saying is why would you keep the money of illegal proceeds or anything like that? Which means you are part and parcel of that. That is where we’re standing at this present moment.”
Ismail has called for his community to take a stand, come to the courts, and make their voices heard. To him, this solidarity could impart to the judge the Charloos is not wanted by the community and bail should not be given.
“One of the major concerns when a judge has to give bail is they look at it as, is it safe to let that person back into the community, is the community going to be happy with it or is he going to orchestrate another similar crime. If you do not show an interest that means you are just another number. That is why I tell the people to come out to the courts, show their support and show the court you do not want this thing to happen in your community.”
This show of solidarity from the community can be a warning to would-be kidnappers and could put an end to kidnappings, said Ismail.
“It’s also a warning to a would-be kidnapper. The kidnapper walks into Lenasia and says, ‘Wait a minute I’m going to kidnap Mr X’ right but then he says, ‘No wait a minute, this is a community that stands together. This is a community that if I’m going to get caught, they’re going to make sure that the judge has no option but to put me behind bars for the rest of my life’.”
Charloos, according to Ismail, has shown no remorse for his actions and believes that he will get away.
“If you can come to court, you can see there’s no remorse and there’s that ‘I don’t care, I’m coming out tomorrow’ attitude.”
There is a possibility of the suspects being released on bail and with that comes the concern that the community will deliver their own justice. Ismail has already had to calm members of the community.
“I had to calm a lot of people down because you must remember, it’s not the people that have been kidnapped [who are angry]. It is the people who went through their process, that hurt, that anger and that trauma … We have a lot of challenges when a person is kidnapped. One of my major concerns is, if the justice system fails the community, I wouldn’t know what to expect.”
Ismail has received calls from people explaining that they have the right to punish the suspects in the way they see fit. However, he does not agree and says, “We have no right to take life.”
The community has faced similar incidents in the past and dealing with it by themselves worked out.
“What happened in 2010 when Lenasia was suffering the same situation we are suffering at the present moment. We patrolled, we took out the criminals and for at least two to three years Lenasia was safe. We are saying to the justice system keep them in. We’re giving you the opportunity. We’re giving the justice system the opportunity to really show us at the end of the day because they’ve got everything in front of them. It is not the normal officers involved in this. You can see it is top ranking officials involved.”
With the amount of research spent on a kidnapping case and how a hostage is being treated, Ismail is inclined to believe that it is people who are close to the family who are the orchestrators. He is confident those who are still out there are close to being caught.
“People don’t realise this is an orchestrated crime… This person who is kidnapping knows the people that he’s kidnapping. Knows their whereabouts. Would you believe it if they kidnap you, they even know what meditation you are on? The person unfortunately is in our midst. The person could be having lunch, supper with us and that person is orchestrating to kidnap us. It is not people that are just coming from the wild because if that happens, believe me, we would have already weeded them out. We’ve already got rid of them because we are active on the ground, and we would have seen it.”
His advice to the community is to return to the old ways when the community was a close-knit group and to conceal what you have.
“Do not flaunt whatever you’ve got. I say, rather share it but not flaunt it. One thing is that jealousy is very rife in the community… What I’m also saying to the people, you know the old lifestyle, we had a united community. Somebody hurts his finger and the whole community feels it. Let us go back to that and we will know who our criminal is, and we will weed them out.”
A total of nine suspects are now behind bars with more arrests expected to be made. Charloos appeared in a Soweto court on Monday. His bail hearing was moved to next Tuesday.
Colonel Athlenda Mathe, SAPS Spokesperson, was not ready to make a statement on the matter.
Shahim Ismail, from Lethal Forces spoke with Julie Alli about a CPF member’s arrest in connection with the recent kidnappings in Lenasia:
