The Mitchells Plain Community Police Forum executive committee has been suspended from duty.
Subdistrict CPF board chair, Rafique Foflonker, announced the suspension earlier this week.
“A formal hearing will be scheduled, after which a final pronouncement will be made,” he said in a statement on Wednesday 11 February. “Given the seriousness of the matters under review, speculative commentary should be avoided to preserve the integrity of the process and the dignity of all individuals concerned.”
The suspension occurred on Tuesday the 10th.
Interim arrangements
In an interview with TygerBurger on Wednesday Foflonker said he could not give more details to protect the integrity of the upcoming hearing.
“This suspension initiates a hearing and adjudication process that will culminate in a formal outcome,” he said. ” The CPF Constitution does not provide for interim or ‘caretaker’ executive structures in this period. So CPF office bearers cannot be co-opted into executive roles while the matter is under review.”
Foflonker added that the station would not be without community representation, as subdistrict deputy chair Sandy Schuter-Flowers, also the Strandfontein CPF chair, would support Mitchells Plain “in an administrative capacity to ensure continuity.”
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Keeping mum
Neighbourhood watches and other safety structures on the ground all said that they were aware of the suspension, but were not willing to go into details about what had brought it about.
Likewise, Sgt Wesley Twigg of the police’s provincial media office, when questioned, referred the TygerBurger to the station commander, Brig Brian Muller, who referred the paper back to Foflonker.
Suspended CPF chair Norman Jantjies did not respond to TygerBurger’s messages but a trusted community crimefighter, closely affiliated with the CPF, told the paper on condition of anonymity, that the suspension came after a break down in communication that has been coming on for more than a year, since the station commander took office.
Escalated
The crimefighter said that CPF had escalated the matter to its superiors and to the police leadership, all the way up to the National Minister of Police, but despite several mediations and resolutions the issue remains unresolved.
He added that the suspension came as a surprise and was not in line with what the forum had been told after the most recent investigations into the matter.
A well-functioning CPF acts as a bridge between the South African Police Service and local communities to address crime, enhance police accountability and improve service delivery collaboratively. CPFs foster partnerships, facilitate information sharing and develop, monitor and evaluate crime-prevention initiatives.
