LISTEN: Cope sits for case
BRIXTON – Cope members held a sit-in to demand answers on the case they opened against former SABC board chairperson.
About 60 members from the Congress of the People (Cope) staged a sit-in at the Brixton Police Station on 2 February to protest against cases they feel police have neglected. Cope spokesperson Dennis Bloem said that they had opened a case against former SABC board chairperson Ellen Tshabalala last year in July and to date they have heard nothing from police informing them on what was going on.
@NewsNMT @cope "We will sit here until the Comissioner comes from Pretoria" Dennis Bloem pic.twitter.com/cBNpdJ8oNE
— Gaahele M (@Treaka) February 2, 2016
@NewsNMT Meeting finally underway. Cope members ask y there has been no movement on case….. pic.twitter.com/rCVCMaariN
— Gaahele M (@Treaka) February 2, 2016
“We are not happy with the way the Brixton Police handled the case that we have opened here. It is disappointing that no one is doing anything about this,” Bloem said addressing the media present.
He pointed out that the cases that they demanded be investigated involved money misspent while taxpayers and the poor were kept in the dark about what steps the police were taking to further their case.
Police members at the station continued assisting residents through the sit-in and no services were disrupted at the station while Cope members waited for the acting Station Commander Colonel Marius Groenewald to arrive.
@NewsNMT As Cope members patiently wait for answers from Brixton station commander on Ellen Tshabalala's case. pic.twitter.com/JqVdxiyBny
— Gaahele M (@Treaka) February 2, 2016
The 60 Cope members mostly sat in the corridors of the station having started their sit-in by singing struggle songs and holding up placards. Bloem added that they will announce the date for their next sit-in strike at Brooklyn Police Station where they have opened a case against former Transnet CEO.
@NewsNMT cope members enter police station @BrixtonBlog pic.twitter.com/P48JGHsrLW
— Gaahele M (@Treaka) February 2, 2016
After the Station Commander failed to make an appearance at the station the protesters were addressed by the Gauteng Provincial SAPS spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Lungelo Dlamini who explained that due to the nature of the case, it had been withdrawn from the Brixton Police Station and taken to provincial.
“The case is still under investigation and once all necessary investigations are complete we will take the case to the prosecutor who will decide whether to prosecute or not,” he explained.
Details: Brixton Police Station, 011 248 5520
