After all, how difficult can it be? The investigative journalists released voluminous dossiers on corruption, detailing the criminal behaviour of prominent figures in the ANC. They named these people and, despite much blustering, not a single defamation action has been brought.

But Batohi deserves some sympathy. It is unlikely that she could have imagined how dysfunctional the NPA is.

It got a R1.3billion injection in the recent Mid-term Budget, but has been underfunded for at least a decade. After 2015 there was no staff recruitment, leaving 700 vacant prosecutor posts.

This week, we got a further glimpse of the rot. Lieutenant-General Godfrey Lebeya, head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations, popularly known as the Hawks, said in an interview with News24’s Mandy Wiener that his unit had been “badly crippled by staff shortages and competency challenges” and was operating at less than 50% capacity.

It’s not only at the elite level of the Hawks that law enforcement is in chaos. The SAPS has, under the influence of relentless political interference, steadily decreased in crime-fighting efficiency, even while growing substantially in size, both in payroll and in girth of its notoriously obese officers.

Again, dailyconcord reports that the statistics are dismal. In an answer to questions from DA MP Dianne Kohler Barnard in 2013, it was revealed that the police had 1 500 officers with criminal convictions, including serious offences such as murder, kidnapping and assault.

Nothing was done. The SAPS lacked the courage to get rid of the officers concerned and hoped that staff churn would solve the problem. It hasn’t. After further probing by Kohler Barnard this year, SAPS admitted there were now 4000 officers with criminal convictions in the force, of whom 32 were at the highest levels of SAPS management.

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With a leadership infiltrated by card-carrying criminals, it should come as no surprise that ordinary cops appear to be uncertain as to which side to take. This week, Mpumalanga Judge President Frans Legodi was sternly critical of police behaviour after applications by two transport companies for urgent court intervention compelling the SAPS to do its job.

The applicants said SAPS officers repeatedly refused to intervene when their trucks were being attacked, by local drivers wanting foreigners banned. The illegal activities included assault, robbery, hijacking, intimidation, malicious damage to property, unlawful detention, the blockage of public roads and incitement to violence.

dailyconcord – The police, said the applicants, just stood by, watching. They were clearly “reluctant or unwilling” to enforce the law, each time refusing to act unless the victims of the crimes obtained a court order directing them to do so.

Legodi said, in his judgment, that the problem raised by these cases was “far from unusual” and the SAPS attitude was “wrong and would encourage lawlessness”.

Legodi said it was not the responsibility of the courts to “prevent, combat and investigate crimes”. Nor was it the function of the courts to “maintain public order, secure the inhabitants and their property. The Constitution gave this power to the police”.

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The Judge President asked that his judgment be brought to the attention of the Mpumalanga police commissioner to “consider an inquiry”. But that’s not enough. The problem is far bigger than just two hauliers in one province.

In the past year, about 1300 truck-and-trailer rigs have been attacked, damaged and destroyed, countrywide, at a cost of about R1.3billion. There have been more than 200 deaths and Police Minister Bheki Cele was sufficiently moved to say “it is clear that we are now in crisis”.

Source – https://www.iol.co.za/

The post dailyconcord – South Africa’s police are criminally incompetent appeared first on Daily Concord.

Scotland Yard’s hunt for Madeleine is understood to have no ‘earth-shattering leads’ and detectives rarely visit the Portuguese resort where she vanished in May 2007.

The Home Office provided £150,000 cash last October to fund four detectives to work on Operation Grange, as the inquiry is codenamed, until the end of this month.

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Madeleine McCann disappeared from a Portuguese resort in May 2007 

The Metropolitan Police is understood to have sought a further £300,000, but officials last night admitted no decision on future funding has been made.

Madeleine was three when she vanished from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in the Algarve as her parents, Gerry and Kate, dined with friends at a nearby restaurant.

Portuguese police shelved their investigation in 2008 but Scotland Yard launched its own inquiry in 2011. At its height, 31 detectives worked on the case, but the investigation was dramatically scaled back in 2015.

A well-placed source said the remaining handful of detectives have been carrying out ‘grunt work’ which includes tracking down and eliminating known sex offenders and finding possible witnesses rather than pursuing hard leads.

‘Most of what Operation Grange is doing is having things set up to knock down and rule out, rather than pursuing a particular fantastic lead that could unlock it all,’ the source said. ‘I’m not aware of any earth-shattering lead or breakthrough imminently.’

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Scotland Yard’s hunt for Madeleine is understood to have no ‘earth-shattering leads’

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The Home Office provided £150,000 cash last October to fund four detectives to work on Operation Grange, as the inquiry is codenamed, until the end of this month. (Pictured) British Detective Chief Inspector Nicola Wall arriving at Faro police station in December 2014

Much of the work is understood to take place in London. Detectives made just two trips to Portugal in 2017-18, which involved five return flights costing £1,240. They usually stay at the upmarket Estrela da Luz hotel but a bar manager there said: ‘I haven’t seen any police here for nearly a year, probably last May.’

Instead, sources say the focus has shifted to Eastern Europe as detectives examine the theory that Madeleine was abducted by child-traffickers. It is understood they went to great lengths to trace a couple believed to be from Bulgaria who were staying near Praia da Luz at the time of her disappearance. The man, who was believed to have been a paedophile, had died but officers struggled to find the woman, despite help from Interpol.

Operation Grange has so far cost £11.75 million, including more than £10 million on salaries, over £440,000 on overtime and about £287,000 on travel costs.

A source close to the investigation said the Home Office would be ‘clinical’ in deciding whether to approve more funding. ‘The bottom line is they need to be able to present an argument that suggests they still have stuff to do.’

The inquiry is led by Detective Chief Inspector Nicola Wall. Her team comprises a detective sergeant and three detective constables based at Putney police station in South-West London.

Former Met Commander Brian Paddick said investigations like Operation Grange were adding to the pressure on Scotland Yard detectives. ‘Clearly there is a national shortage of detectives and any detective that is taken away from other duties in order to investigate the disappearance of Madeleine McCann is going to have an impact,’ he said.

In an interview with Vogue magazine in 2013, DCI Wall spoke of her fondness for Saga Noren, the fictional detective in the Scandinavian TV drama The Bridge, whom she described as ‘quite feminine, very glamorous, very pretty and very capable’. The Met veteran was said to attribute her low media profile to the fact ‘we solve cases so quickly nobody gets involved’.

But the search for Madeleine has so far proved fruitless. Locals in Praia da Luz this weekend said they had seen little evidence of any ongoing police inquiries for almost a year.

A worker at the Ocean Club Resort, from where Madeleine disappeared, said: ‘I haven’t seen any police here for a long time. I think that is a good thing as far as the locals are concerned, they are tired of the area being associated with such a tragic event.’

A Met spokesman said: ‘The investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann remains ongoing.’ A spokesman for the McCanns said: ‘Kate and Gerry remain incredibly grateful to the Metropolitan Police and the Home Office for the continued work they are doing.’

The Home Office confirmed it had received a request to extend funding for Operation Grange and was in talks with the Met.

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Stephanie Pringle, 36, racked up a catalogue of complaints from angry neighbours after music started regularly blasting through the usually quiet suburban road in Shiremoor, Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

Those who complained in person were subjected to verbal abuse and threats from visitors to the house and, on one occasion, a police officer was assaulted.

She screamed foul-mouthed abuse at police and the press as she was led away, approaching one cameraman threateningly to say: ‘Wait til I kick the camera out of your f****** hands’.

Even the emergency services were reportedly verbally abused on one occasion.

On Thursday Ms Pringle, who had been repeatedly warned about her behaviour, was asked to leave the property.

And today photos showing the state of her home, including a collapsed ceiling and rubble strewn over the floor, have emerged. 

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When the team went inside, they found a large section of the kitchen ceiling had collapsed and rubble was lying on the floor

Officers from North Tyneside Council and Northumbria Police told her they had a closure order from court and were going to shut down her home.    

When the team went inside, they found a large section of the kitchen ceiling had collapsed and rubble was lying on the floor.

The rooms were messy, some with piles of clothes thrown on the ground and one with unwashed dishes and pans lying in the corner.

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On Thursday Ms Pringle, who had been repeatedly warned about her behaviour, was asked to leave the property

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Those who complained in person were subjected to verbal abuse and threats from visitors to the house and, on one occasion, a police officer was assaulted

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Empty bottles of vodka, cans of Carlsberg Export and other alcoholic drinks were strew along the floor 

The bins in the back yard were full, and broken glass and debris lay on the floor. The council boarded up the house and the locks were changed.

Richard Mitchell, the council’s community and public spaces protection manager, said: ‘This is the first time North Tyneside Council has ever had to use full closure legislation in response to local people’s concerns about the behaviour of tenants, but due to community protection orders being repeatedly breached we have been left with no other choice.

‘We don’t want to see anyone lose their home and in both cases we tried a partial closure first in an attempt to prevent disturbances from all-night parties, but it’s made no difference.’ 

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The post Evicted neighbour from hell, 36, launches foul-mouthed tirade at police as she’s led from rubbish-strewn home where she terrorised residents who complained about her constant loud music and fires appeared first on Daily Concord.

The incident occurred on Friday at the Ikorodu Local Government Area (LGA) office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

INEC had earlier announced Friday as the deadline for the collection of PVCs. However, collection has subsequently been extended till Monday, February 11.

The order to teargas the residents was given by one officer, identified as Ifeanyi Ohuruzu.

Children, pregnant women, physically-challenged persons, among others were affected by the smoke from the teargas canisters.

Two people collapsed and were rushed to the hospital, while others sustained injuries.

A pregnant woman was one of those who developed a choking fit, while others were rushed away from the area.

Mrs Ademuwagun Olubunkola, who suffres from asthma, vomited blood during the teargas incident, spoke to SaharaReporters, saying: “What they did today was very bad, and thank God I didn’t die. In fact, I am not in the mood to talk right now. Speak with the man that saved me.”

Mr. Orisunmibare Babatola, the man who took care of some of those who sustained injuries, said there wasn’t any violence to have warranted the policemen firing teargas canisters.

His words: “A mobile policeman took a drastic decision and all of a sudden, after the OP MESA left, my son was affected. They quickly rushed two babies to the hospital. Why did INEC ask us to come when they know our PVCs aren’t ready?”

When he was challenged by the residents on why he gave the order, Ohuruzu said: “There must be casualties in places like this.”

The exercise continued after the incident; still, many residents are yet to get their PVCs.

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Darren Pencille, 35, from Farnham, Surrey, is accused of stabbing Lee Pomeroy, 51, nine times on the South Western Railway service from Guildford to Waterloo last Friday lunchtime in an attack caught on CCTV. 

Pencille’s girlfriend Chelsea Mitchell, 27, allegedly drove him to safety as he fled Clandon Station and helped change his appearance as police hunted for him.

There was speculation at the weekend that a ‘trivial’ row broke out between Pencille and Mr Pomeroy after the pair accidentally bumped into each other as they boarded the train. 

Today the murder suspect decided to sit on the floor of the glass dock at Staines Magistrates’ Court, claiming he was ‘hearing voices’ and was ‘too paranoid’ to stand up. 

Wearing a grey tracksuit and black, thick-rimmed glasses, Pencille was heard muttering ‘get me out of here’ to the two security guards flanking him.

As he was taken away he told chair of the bench Helen Mattey: ‘I’m innocent until proven guilty’. 

Pencille, who is charged with murder and possessing an offensive weapon, did not enter any pleas and said he had no fixed abode.

But police said when they charged him on Sunday he lived with Chelsea Mitchell, 27, who was also before magistrates accused of assisting an offender.

Both appeared again at Guildford Crown Court this afternoon and they were remanded in custody to appear again at the same court on February 7. 

Police suspect she helped Pencille escape the Home Counties village of Clandon after he fled from the train minutes after the attack. 

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