ANC cries foul over cops’ probe into brawl

Humewood’s lack of action against DA a racial matter, party claims

The ANC in Nelson Mandela Bay has lodged a formal complaint against senior police at the Humewood police station, accusing officers of colluding with the DA caucus to harass ANC councillors and for not taking their complaints of assault seriously.

In a letter to provincial police commissioner General Liziwe Ntshinga, ANC chief whip Litho Suka said he believed the case against ANC councillors for last week’s council brawl had shifted from a criminal or legal matter to a racial one.

ANC councillors Andile Lungisa and Gamalihleli Maqula were charged with assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm.

They appeared in court on Monday, after handing themselves over to the Humewood police, and were released on R1 000 bail.

In the letter, Suka complained that the cases opened by Lungisa and fellow ANC councillor Makhi Feni had not received the same level of treatment as those opened by the DA councillors.

Lungisa and Feni laid criminal complaints of assault with the police.

“We have noted with concern that a case opened by two ANC councillors has not received the same level of attention as with the case opened by DA councillors,” Suka wrote.

“We have come to this observation as a result of no action taken by police against DA councillors.

“We view this as nothing more than an attempt to embarrass the ANC and its councillors.

“None of the DA councillors have been summoned to the police station or to court pending the outcome of the investigation, which is very odd,” Suka wrote.

He added that the way the ANC case had been handled led the party to believe that it was now a racial matter, particularly as the officer in charge of their case was white.

“It is unthinkable and makes no sense at all that while two parties were involved in a violent brawl, only one party is summoned to the police station.

“Over and above this, DA-aligned people who fired gunshots inside the council chambers, a no-gun zone, have also not been arrested or summoned to the police station despite their identities [being] known to the police”.

Mayor Athol Trollip said last week that a security officer had fired a warning shot in an attempt to disperse the crowd.

Suka wrote: “We kindly request [you] to treat this matter in a serious manner.

“We view the use of a firearm inside the chamber as against the law.”

Police spokeswoman Captain Sandra Janse van Rensburg referred questions to provincial police.

Provincial police spokeswoman Brigadier Marinda Mills said this was an important matter and she would have to contact all the police role players involved in the case.

“I have to speak to everyone who is involved in this case to find out what happened and that can be done by Wednesday [today],” Mills said.