Gang threats see charges dropped

Probe into intimidation, bribery of witnesses

POLICE have launched an investigation into gangsters threatening and paying off witnesses in a bid to get criminal charges dropped by the court.

Two separate gang-related cases were withdrawn by the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court this month.

This, police say, is normally due to witnesses either refusing to testify, recanting their sworn statements or drastically changing their testimony during trial.

The probe comes a week after the Port Elizabeth gang task team announced that 102 suspected gangsters had been arrested since May.

About 20 gang-related shootings left eight people dead this month.

Police attributed the recent spate of gang shootings to a turf war in Bethelsdorp – specifically the Kleinskool area.

Police spokesman WarrantOfficer Alwin Labans said gangsters forcing witnesses not to testify was a “new twist”.

He said the task team was investigating numerous cases in which arrests have been made and plenty of evidence gathered.

“But it now appears that complainants and witnesses in these cases are either intimidated or bribed to change their stories in court or simply not to attend court to testify,” he said.

The trend was spotted by police after a 26-year-old man was shot dead in a minibus taxi last week shortly after leaving the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court, where he appeared for a gang-related shooting.

Days after the shooting two rival gang members, one of them the witness and the other the shooter, refused to testify against each other, Labans said.

-Gareth Wilson