Janaki Pather, 83, hold her permit and the fine she was issued. Picture: Yoshini Perumal
STALL owners at the Merebank Market, in Bombay Walk have claimed that they were harassed by metro police officers and had their goods unlawfully confiscated, during a permit check.
Janaki Pather, 83, said the metro police officers went to her table at the market last week and asked for her permit.
“Due to the bad weather and also fearful of being robbed, I left the permit in my son’s car. I told them that my son would bring it in a few minutes from the car. But they were having none of it. They opened up black plastic bags and began loading my stock into it. They said they were fining me for not having a permit.
“I kept asking them to give me a few minutes to get the permit from the car, but they refused to listen. I was scared and did not know what to do or say. Within a few minutes, while they were confiscating my stock, my son arrived with the permit. Even though I produced the valid permit, they still gave me a fine and took my stock,” Pather claimed.
When Malcolm Govender, 39, a vegetable stall owner, tried to intervene to help Pather explain to the officers that she did have a permit, an argument ensued and he was arrested.
“She (Pather) is like a grandmother to me. I have known her all my life. I watched in horror at how she was being treated and I knew I had to help her. The officers put all her stock into the packets while she was showing them her permit.
“They had no respect or compassion for her, despite seeing how old and frail she was. They took away her bread and butter. She was distraught. I asked to see the officers’ identification.
“They were harassing an elderly person, who works seven days a week, to put food on the table for her family.
“They refused to show us identification or tell us their names. They were heartless. As we screamed at each other about the granny’s permit, a large crowd gathered around us and everyone started screaming for them to leave the granny alone. One of the officers grabbed me and when I tried to yank myself away from him, he said I tried to assault him. He then dragged me all the way to the police vehicle and arrested me,” he said.
Govender was charged with resisting arrest, assaulting a police officer, and obstruction of justice.
“I was taken to Wentworth police station, where I was kept in a cell for three hours. I was then told that I was granted bail of R500. The next day, I received a call from the station to fetch my bail money, which would be refunded to me, as I was free to go pending further investigations,” he added.
George Ganesan, 67, a fruit stall owner, said the officers did not greet them, or identify themselves, but arrived and said, ‘where is your permit? Where is your permit? Show me now.’
“We have been selling fruit at the same stall for about 30 years and we had never had a visit from any police asking us to produce our permits. Due to the fear of being robbed, we keep the permit at home. We were fined R600 for not producing a permit. This is more than what we make each week. When we went to pay the fine, it was reduced to R300. We had to all fetch our stock from a collection point near Warwick Avenue in central Durban. Money is tight, and we cannot afford to lose or be robbed of our permits, which cost us R1 000 a year to renew,” Ganesan added.
Dr Mahendra Rama, a medical practitioner at the Merebank Shopping Centre for 30 years, said the officers’ approach to elderly stall owners was shocking.
“The way they came in and treated the elderly was reminiscent of apartheid days. The cops came in, did not introduce themselves, no names, nothing.
“They just started taking things. They did not follow proper protocols. They took stock from different stalls and dumped it into the same bags without marking anything. I was threatened with arrest for just asking questions and talking to the officer. They refused to communicate. They were rude and arrogant,” Rama said.
Verushka Memdutt, a representative from the South African Informal
Traders Forum, said: “It is clear that the rights of traders had been violated and the proper processes had not been followed. There was no respect given to the traders. There must be an inquiry into the conduct of the police officers.”
Ward 68 councillor, Aubrey Snyman, said the conduct of the metro police officers was unacceptable and no proper processes were followed.
“For the past 50 years, I have worked with the community, and this was the first time that they had come to the Merebank Market.
“Metro police were actually taking food off the elderly people’s tables, and making people starve and cry for their little belongings. How are the people going to survive? We demand that their fines are cancelled and their money must be given back,” Snyman added.
The POST