“Criminals are not stupid. They are exploiting the fact that some of the best officers we have are sitting at home doing nothing.”
|||Durban - As police battle to contain a surge in crime across greater Durban, security experts have begun asking whether the informer network built up over numerous years by the now disbanded SAPS Cato Manor organised crime unit is still being used by the police.
The crime surge, including home invasions, burglaries and business robberies, has been blamed on the disbanding of the unit which, according to one senior police officer, had “held the gates of hell closed”.
“One year after the unit was shut down we are finally beginning to see the effects of that decision,” he said.
The officer, who works in crime prevention, was one of several policemen who spoke to the Daily News last week about the recent spate of serious crimes, including an unusually high rate of violent robberies.
Private security companies have also reported an increase in crime.
“Criminals are not stupid. They are exploiting the fact that some of the best officers we have are sitting at home doing nothing,” said the officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media.
“The Cato Manor boys were the guys who knew all the most violent gangs and kept them in check.
“Those were the guys we, the officers on the ground, turned to when we were after a particular suspect or gang because all they needed to do was call one or two informants and get the information we needed.
“There were times when I would get a call from them telling me the suspect I was looking for had handed himself over to them.”
The Cato Manor unit was disbanded last year after allegations that a “death squad” operated there.
In December, Major-General Jan Mabula, head of the Hawks in North West, was appointed to investigate the allegations, and to date 30 policemen have been arrested. Two have subsequently died.
In recent weeks criminals have targeted home owners in the Upper Highway area, Westville and Durban North and more recently zeroed in on the Berea and surrounding suburbs.
Police spokesman, Colonel Vincent Mdunge, said there was no evidence to support the claim that the crime wave was a result of the disbanding of the Cato Manor unit.
“The issue of the Cato Manor unit did not happen recently. It has been months. The increase in crime to other areas such as Durban North, uMhlanga and eManzimtoti is because of a crime shift in the Upper Highway.
“It has nothing to do with Cato Manor,” he said.”
Darryn le Grange, managing director of Blue Security, said the company had noted a spike in robberies and housebreakings - some in daylight - in areas stretching from Berea to Umbilo.
Over the past week, 19 separate crime incidents had been reported to the company, including three robberies and housebreakings at homes and businesses.
Le Grange said the organised crime unit had been strategically positioned for many years to fight crime due to the strong network of informants its members had established.
“Quality informants play a vital role in crime prevention. There have been several cases over the years where the unit has been able to prevent crimes due to tip-offs received from informants, and with the disbanding of the former unit it is unclear whether the channels of communication between these informants have remained in place,” Le Grange said.
Dr Rudolp Zinn, a lecturer in criminology at Unisa and former detective in the SAPS, said a wave of robberies in certain neighbourhoods was a result of “crime displacement” - when criminals move from a neighbourhood that has beefed up security to one where security is lax.
“That is one of the considerations. But if this happens in a wider area, like what is going on there, it could very well be possible that it can be attributed to the disbanding of the organised crime unit,” he said.
“When former police commissioner, Jackie Selebi, disbanded the specialised units a few years ago we saw an increase in bank robberies and robberies with aggravating circumstances over a very long period of time.
“When a specialised unit is disbanded, word definitely spreads among criminals and they will continue to strike, as their chances of getting caught are slimmer.”
Zinn said organised crime units often dealt with specific incidents and handled society’s most violent criminals.
“Because of this they build up an effective network of informers. Having worked as a detective myself, the best support you get as a detective is from your informers. If that network is no longer utilised because the unit is not operational, you will lose years of experience and knowledge,” he said.
“It takes a long time to build up a network of informers.”
Martin Kriel, managing director of ADT Security, East Coast Region, said over the past six months there had been an increase in the number of burglaries and a decrease in home invasions in Durban North and Berea.
“We cannot conclusively confirm that the increases are due to a movement of crime away from the Upper Highway area. While the increased police presence in the Upper Highway area has in all likelihood contributed to decreasing the level of crime, the reported levels of crime in the Durban North and Berea areas could be the result of other factors.”
Daily News