This is what 280,047 people were arrested for under lockdown

Fake news, privacy leaks, not staying home — NPA did not prosecute 23% of cases

28 August 2020 - 14:24 By ERNEST MABUZA
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Police minister Bheki Cele.
Police minister Bheki Cele.
Image: Jackie Clausen

People failing to confine themselves to their homes during the lockdown constituted the majority of the 280,047 people arrested for contravening the lockdown regulations between March 26 and July 9 in SA.

Police arrested a greater number of motorists (766) for carrying more than one passenger — in a vehicle licensed to carry up to four people — than drivers (347) ferrying more than three passengers in a minibus licensed to carry eight during level 5 of the lockdown.

More details have emerged about lockdown arrests across the country in response this week to questions put to police minister Bheki Cele in parliament by DA MP Andrew Whitfield.

Cele also revealed that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) refused to prosecute in 23% of the cases (64,873) that were presented.

The arrests were made after the issuing of lockdown regulations in March, designed to curb the spread of Covid-19.

Most of the arrests were made in the Western Cape (60,261) followed by Gauteng (54,377) and the Free State (39,380). You can read the full list here.

They included:

• 155,166 people not confining themselves to their homes, except to perform or obtain essential services, seek medical attention or collect social grants during level 5 of the lockdown. During level 4, starting on May 1, 39,396 people were nabbed for the same offence.

• Police were more active under level 5, making 193,063 arrests for a multitude of offences. The sale of (non-essential) goods by retail stores garnered 7,517 arrests and there were 4,694 for failure by businesses to cease operations.

• Police also arrested 3,839 people for moving between provinces and districts and another 1,881 for carrying out evictions.

• Under level 5, there were 732 arrests for failing to reduce the seating capacity of a minibus by 50%. Fifty-seven arrests were made for failure by a public transport facility owner to provide adequate sanitisers. There were 38 arrests for failure by a public transport operator to ensure that a vehicle was sanitised.

Under level 4 of the regulations — which included bans on the sale of tobacco and alcohol — police arrested 79,266 people. Failing to abide by the night curfew saw 15,532 arrests and the sale of tobacco products landed 5,593 people in trouble with the law.

During level 3, the majority of arrests (4,230) were for selling tobacco products and  convening a prohibited gathering on a public road or in a building (1,149).

In other cases, people were arrested for holding a night vigil (42), performing male and female initiation practices (12) and failing to comply with the direction of a Covid-19 designated judge to protect the privacy of people whose data was collected (12).

Numerous people were arrested for spreading “fake news” about measures taken by the government to address the pandemic, misrepresenting that a person had Covid-19 and failures by accommodation establishments to provide information about people staying there for inclusion in the Covid-19 tracing database.

Nearly 300,000 people were charged for contravening regulations which were conceived by the national command council on a whim
DA MP Andrew Whitfield

Reacting to the minister's answers, Whitfield said Cele and the police service had unwittingly, during the lockdown, criminalised ordinary citizens.

“Nearly 300,000 people were charged for contravening regulations which were conceived by the national command council on a whim.”

Whitfield said it was unclear if some of the regulations aided in curbing the spread of the virus. Whitfield said he asked the questions to determine how many cases the NPA declined to prosecute.

“It is [close to] 25% and points to a number of issues. It may point to poor policing and incorrect procedures being followed.”

Whitfield said the DA needed to get to the bottom of why the NPA declined to prosecute.

“The number exposes the overzealous, overeager policing during lockdown. We would like the SAPS and Cele to apply the same enthusiasm and energy when it comes to tackling real criminals who are raping and murdering.”

TimesLIVE


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