Doctors spend night in jail as police turn deaf ear to their pleas

What do two doctors, three local community police forum (CPF) members and a businessman have in common?

They were all arrested on Friday evening by the same police officer for contravening the same lockdown regulation and were put in the same police holding cell – with no sanitiser.

Among the group arrested for not presenting permits after the lockdown curfew was Dr Ivan Jardine, a healthcare practitioner, community activist and founder of #ProjectPossible.

Jardine, who made a brief appearance in the Edenvale Magistrate’s Court yesterday, said “no government and no police officer will ever be able to arrest the work of God”, afterwards.

He said he told the police officer to get used to his face because he will do it again in a heartbeat. He was arrested near Eastgate mall at 10pm on Friday and only released on bail on Saturday.

Jardine said the officer threatened to pull him out of his car.

“They have no sympathy or compassion and do not listen to reason,” he said.

A hospital manager called the officer to confirm Jardine was a doctor.

“I had my scrubs on and showed them my credit card but they said it could have been stolen.”

No Covid protocol was exercised at the station’s holding cells, he claimed.

Another doctor arrested on the night also for not having a permit on him, said while in custody he pleaded with police to let him go because he was a diabetic and needed his medicine.

“They told me to go and die, can you believe they said I must die,” the doctor, who wanted to stay anonymous, said.

A businessman, also arrested, has a workshop that services police vehicles and was arrested when he went to inspect the premises after a call out.

Three CPF members also arrested on the night said they were out patrolling in two separate vehicles when they decided to use one vehicle and forgot the permits in the other vehicle.

When they phoned the station commander, he told them he was not interested in what they had to say, they claimed.

“We can’t have sympathy for police treating people like animals,” the CPF member, who also didn’t want to be named, said.

Jardine said as part of the Dare To Be Good movement, he and the volunteers went to the same police where they prayed for the officers and handed out Bibles.

“When we were booked in on Friday night, I saw one of those Bibles on the counter. How could they be threatening us like this after we came and blessed them?” Jardine said.

Jardine said doctors’ permits should be scrapped because doctors should not be asking permission to save lives.

Gauteng Democratic Alliance shadow MEC of health Jack Bloom said he was appalled at this abuse of police power.

“They should rather do their job in catching real criminals and preventing looting. They should know that essential services are covered in the lockdown regulations,” Bloom said.

Jardine’s case was postponed to 5 August.

– marizkac@citizen.co.za