Alex SAPS rejects donation of recovered loot to charity

One of Alex’s leading charity organisations, the Alex NGO Foundation, had made a proposal to the Alex SAPS for the donation of the recovered looted goods that the SAPS has been holding, but this has been rejected.

Police recovered the stolen goods during a door-to-door search they conducted after the riot and unrest which erupted in Alexandra and other parts of South Africa in mid-July this year.

It is the foundation’s intention to provide the goods to needy organisations under its umbrella to benefit the organisations’ needy recipients once the SAPS has agreed to donate the goods to the Foundation.

Alex philanthropist and founder of the foundation, Patrick Baloyi, said the foundation and its more than 100 Alex-based NGOs had learnt the recovered items were being destroyed since they could not be returned to their rightful owners.

“We understand that some looted shop owners could not provide proof that the goods were looted from their shops and hence, we were told they were being destroyed and we though they could be donated to the needy rather than being destroyed,” Baloyi told Alex News.

“Our goal is to reduce the high impact of hunger, despair and poverty that has been brought upon the people as a result of job losses following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and the collapse of some businesses as a result of the harsh lockdown, including the recent looting,” Baloyi added.

Foundation members had met with the leaders of the SAPS in Alexandra on July 26 in a bid to request them to consider donating the goods to the poor and had tabled a proposal as per request from that meeting.

“We are disappointed though that our request was rejected as the donation of those goods could have gone a long way in alleviating the dire poverty situation engulfing the township,” Baloyi said.

He said the idea of asking the police to donate the recovered goods had been suggested to the Foundation by Mveledzo Community Organisation, a long-stading charity organisation which is a member of the Foundation.

After weeks of no response from the Alexandra SAPS, Vusumuzi Michael Ngubane, Commander of Visible Policing (VISPOL,) finally responded to the foundation’s proposal and said the goods cannot be donated to charity since they do not belong to the SAPS.

“All looted goods belong to the shops that were looted, owners of looted goods have to come and identify their goods with proof, and the police will hand the goods to the rightful owners,” Ngubane said via an email.

“Unclaimed goods will be dealt with in accordance with the South African Police Service procedures and will not be handed to any charity institution or persons.”