In the latest #SliceOfGA, columnist Gasant Abarder laments the double standards in policing that appear to favour some and deal with others with an iron first – along racial lines. This selective policing poses a massive risk to our democracy.
Abarder, who recently launched his book, Hack with a Grenade, is among the country’s most influential media voices. Catch his weekly column here, exclusive to Cape {town} Etc.
Growing up in Woodstock, Cape Town, wasn’t exactly Compton, Los Angeles, in the late 80s and early 90s where a group of young rappers called NWA were moved to produce a single called F*** the Police.
Authorities tried to ban the song, which was released a few years before LA’s race riots. Its theme? How cops victimised innocent young, black men in gang-ridden neighbourhoods.
The South African Police at the time, transitioning from a paramilitary organisation into a service for all who live here, also struggled to treat people of colour like equal citizens.
Unfortunately, the same holds true today.
Back in 1991 when I started high school, my 13-year-old self was regularly searched for simply walking down the street or chatting to my friends on the street corner without my parents being informed. I couldn’t ask the officer why I was being searched for that could’ve meant jail. Or worse. They were looking for weapons and drugs. We were just trying to be kids.
My friends, who grew up in predominantly white suburbs, thought this was an urban legend. But a whole 30 years later, last week I found myself in the charge office of a police station in Lansdowne feeling like a second-class citizen again. I had paid a deposit for a security gate and burglar bars and the service provider didn’t deliver and my calls were met with radio silence. I was there to lay a charge of theft.
The worst part was trying to convince a police constable that this was a legitimate case as I had the quote, images of the service provider in my home, WhatsApp exchanges, and proof of payment. I had basically done all the police work. The con artist’s business partner even admitted to the whole thing on the phone with the constable.
Look, I wasn’t naïve and knew I’d never see my R3 500 deposit again. But I thought that flagging this with the police would prevent it from happening to others.
The constable seemed desperate to get out of the chore of taking my statement. But I was steadfast and was emboldened by a different con artist’s victim – who evidently had a cosier upbringing, far from Woodstock – who made it clear to another constable that she wouldn’t take no for an answer and wanted to lay a charge of theft. She even went as far as to say, “How long is this going to take? I have work to do.”
I could never. An authority figure in the charge office eventually made the constable take my statement – albeit begrudgingly. Throughout the visit to this community centre, I was made to feel like I was the criminal. The constable kept repeating, “This is a civil case, you know.”
It may seem isolated but evidence over the past weekend suggests otherwise.
An anti-vaxxer march – where scores of people who failed to wear masks descended on the Sea Point Promenade – was treated with kid-gloves by the police and the City of Cape Town’s law enforcement officers. Hardly 24-hours later, law enforcement officers were harassing homeless people for being homeless – even though the City doesn’t have enough bed spaces to accommodate them all.
Read also: Anti-vaxx Cape Town residents take to Sea Point promenade to protest
A few months ago, we saw video footage of social welfare recipients being water-cannoned while queuing to receive their grants. This pattern was illustrated by Cape Town based video-journalist Wesley Fester earlier this month in showing several scenes of protests he had shot in the city since 2017.
WATCH: Is there a racial bias in how SA police responds to protests?
This video may be harmful to sensitive viewers. It contains scenes of violence and strong language.
He asks the question: Is there a racial bias in how The SA Police responds to protests? Watch the video and make up your own mind.
In a country with a history of policing aligned to race, very little has changed. It is a slippery slope and a massive threat to our democracy.
I’m older and greyer now and my young blood from Woodstock, circa 1990s, has simmered to a cooler temperature. But every time I see these cases of selective policing it makes me want to say… “Yo, I got something to say… F*** the police!”
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Picture: Wesley Fester Youtube Screenshots
