Police Van Crashes Into Shacks, Injures Two, and Leaves Families Homeless

• Two families from Gushindoda informal settlement near Symphony Way in Delft, Cape Town, have been left homeless after a police van crashed into their shacks. Two people were injured.
• The SAPS van smashed into their homes in the middle of the night and was clearly marked as being from Prince Albert, a town in the Great Karoo region of the Western Cape.
• The victims say they have been struggling to get an explanation from the police, who only took their statements a week after the incident.

Two Delft residents were seriously injured and their families left homeless after a police van ploughed into their shacks in Gushindoda informal settlement near Symphony Way in the early hours of Sunday, 7 September.

The families say the van was clearly marked as being from Prince Albert in the Great Karoo region of the Western Cape, about four hours drive from Cape Town.

They say they have been struggling to get an explanation from SAPS.

SAPS spokesperson Joseph Swartbooi told GroundUp: “The allegations … are of a serious nature. The complainants are encouraged to approach the SAPS office to register a complaint or a service complaint.”

He confirmed that Delft police found a marked SAPS vehicle which collided with a shack near Symphony Way, Gushindoda. “Delft police station registered a case of reckless and negligent driving for further investigation,” he said.

Speaking to GroundUp this week after being discharged from hospital, Athenkosi Zenzile said he was asleep with his girlfriend in their home when they were woken up by a loud bang. “The next thing I felt was things falling on top of me,” he said.

Zenzile said he remembers hearing people speaking in the distance but he couldn’t move his body. After some time, emergency services arrived to extricate them their collapsed shack. “When I came out, I saw a police van parked where my shack was,” said Zenzile.

Zenzile is now living with a relative. His girlfriend is still in much pain after her hip bone was broken in the accident.

In the shack next to Zenzile, Zintle Dzila lives with her sister and her two young children. She recalled the terrifying moment the van crashed into her shack.

“I was screaming. I saw a police officer wearing full police uniform come in and asked us not to make a noise. He told us that he is the one who caused the accident, and he is going to help us out,” said Dzila.

But by then neighbours had come out of their homes and tried to apprehend the officer, she said.

She said police officers from Delft station arrived sometime later with the officer they identified as the person who was driving the van. They removed the van and left without taking any statements.

Dzila said that the next day she went to the police station to open a case and give a statement. “The officers on duty told me to wait for my neighbours to get discharged from hospital so they can take our statements at the same time,” she said.

Once Zenzile was discharged from hospital, Dzila said they all went together to the station to give their statements. She said they spoke to a uniformed officer who only identified himself as the station commander. They explained that they had nowhere to sleep and wanted to open a case.

“He told us the police station is not going to help us build our shacks, and we should go apply at the Road Accident Fund,” said Dzila.

City of Cape Town Fire and Rescue spokesperson Jermaine Carelse said a crew from Belhar was at the scene around midnight and found two patients who were both transported by an ambulance to a nearby hospital.

Carelse said the driver of the police van required further treatment and was also transported to a nearby medical facility. “The scene was left in the care of SAPS,” said Carelse.

This week, Zenzile told GroundUp that Delft police station had phoned him to come to the station.

“When we got there, the police took our statements, but I don’t think we will ever get help because of the attitudes of those officers. It was as if they were taking the statements just for the sake of it,” said Zenzile.

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