MAKHADO (LOUIS TRICHARDT) – A spate of contentious and possibly unlawful detentions in Limpopo Province culminated this week in the arrest of a prominent British subject, who received death threats and requested police protection against intruders who allegedly assaulted him in his home on a farm near the town.

The police at Makhado police station, who were summonsed to protect the victim against physical intimidation and death threats, arrested the victim and locked him up in the police cells, whilst allowing the intruders to freely roam the unlocked and unprotected farm property. The victim was arrested on a charge of “attempted murder” after he fired two warning shots into the roof and one into the floor of the house, to scare off his attackers who assaulted him at his home. At the police station he was locked up in the notorious Cell 2, allegedly reserved for known roughnecks and those who are held in connection with the most heinous offences.

The retired British businessman and writer, Mr Gordon Stephen Spence of the farm Nooitgedacht in the Soutpansberg Mountains, said he was not allowed to lock his house and at the police station was denied access to his lawyer. He described the actions of members of the local CID as “an unbelievable display of dangerously unprofessional and amateurish conduct by a bunch of buffoons.” He said they acted like “a bunch of Girl Guides” and warned that their unprofessional conduct will not be conducive to foreign investment and indeed foreign visits to this part of the country.

“South Africa should be ashamed of such policemen.”

Mr Gordon said as a British subject he is accustomed to civilised standards.

“I was appalled and indeed frightened by the total, utter abuse (of power). They are supposed to be policemen, not judges, jurors and executioners. I received no protection from them. Instead it seems that all they wanted to do was to hurt me.” He indicated that he is seriously reconsidering his considerable investments in South Africa after his ordeal.

Mr Spence singled out individual policemen for their highly professional and humane actions. He had high praises for inspector Junior Pauer.

“He was a real Guardian Angel. He quite literally saved my life. I feel desperately sorry that such professional and highly competent and caring officials should be afflicted with such buffoons.” Pauer, seeing his predicament, activated professional assistance. The charge of “attempted murder” was altered by the public prosecutor to a charge of negligent discharge of a firearm and he was eventually let out on bail of R500 after continuous professional intervention to end his ordeal of several hours. He appeared in court on Wednesday. The case was postponed to 22 July for a decision by the DPP.

An attorney in Johannesburg, Mr Anton van Aswegen, who initially requested the local police to assist Mr Spence against his attackers, said he was astonished to learn that his client - the victim of serious intimidation and physical attack – was locked up by the police.

“When I requested the policeman on duty to move my client to a safer cell, he said that they do not have another cell available. When I insisted that they protect him against inmates who threatened to sodomize him, the policeman said: ‘That is not our problem’. When I asked him his name, he refused to identify himself and slammed down the telephone.”

The policeman’s identity is known to Zoutpansberger.

Mr Spence said what happened immediately after the policemen slammed him into the cell, convinced him that it was indeed a setup by the police, who was obviously annoyed by his continued objections against his unlawful arrest.

“They did not like my ‘pompous English attitude’ and I had the impression that being locked up with hardened criminals was to teach me a lesson.” Almost immediately he was confronted by four inmates who first wanted to steal his jacket and shoes, and then bluntly informed him of their intention to sexually violate him. Only a courageous robust counter-warning by him scared them off.

Mr Spence said he was joyfully surprised by the prompt support he received from farmers, who are members of the local farm watch. They arrived at the police station and demanded to know: ‘Where is the Englishman.’ Thank Lord Jesus that they were there. They remained there until I was released, and in fact escorted me back home, after the police refused to do so. The Boere insisted on seeing my wife and I safely home. When we arrived there, one of the intruders, whom the police left there, was in fact still in my house. They requested him to leave, which he immediately did.”

Local lawyer, Mr Charles Pieterse, said there are several worrying aspects in the whole incident:

Mr Spence was taken to the police station at 5:30 and held there until 21:00 when Pieterse arrived there to assist him. There was no docket available and the policemen who arrested him were also nowhere to be found. The docket only arrived more than an hour later, which means that he was in the mean time being unlawfully detained.

Although Mr Spence was a complainant, nobody bothered to open a docket against his attackers. When the police escorted Mr Spence out of his home, they left the house unguarded with the people he complained about.

At the scene of the incident two shots were clearly visible in the roof and one in the floor. Mr Spence made a statement that those were warning shots. The police nevertheless arrested him on a charge of attempted murder.

“The fact of the matter is that one must first look at the affidavit, properly investigate the scene, and then decide what the charge should be. If I did not request the prosecutor to come, the charge would have remained and he would have been refused after hours bail. He would have had to spend the entire night in the cell and his wife would have had to return home alone, without police protection, to where the assailants, against whom the initial charge was laid, were still present.

“When I requested the station commissioner to send a police escort with the couple, she said: ‘I won’t do it if the farmers are going along. What if the farmers attack the police?’”

“It is highly unprofessional to have a person detained without a docket and without an investigator. Luckily the farmers gave support and made sure that the situation was safe.”

“It seems as if there are policemen who consider arrest as a form of punishment which they can mete out at will. The police, who are supposed to assist in crime prevention, were well aware that Mr Spencer’s attackers could still be at the house. Yet they still, after taking away his firearm, refused to escort him back home.” Mr Pieterse thanked the concerned farmers who escorted the couple home and also the prosecutor for their assistance. “The police can be assured that this matter will be taken further and that the culprits will be identified and dealt with.”

It was, in the mean time, reliably established that police at the Makhado police station and in the rest of the Vhembe district are under pressure to increase the arrest statistics for the area.

When the Police Communication Officer for the Vhembe District, Supt. Alwei Mushavanamadi was approached about the incident, he furnished the newspaper with a media release which stated that the police at Makhado have opened a case of negligent discharge of a firearm against 56 years old Mr Gordon Spence, following the allegation that he fired three rounds next to the complainant, Mr Thomani Simon Nenghovela, after a short argument.

According to the media release the police were phoned and on their arrival found three empty cartridges on the scene and Spencer was arrested. According to the media release Spencer on his arrival at the police station made a bail application through his representative and bail of R500 was granted and paid.

The official police statement makes no mention of the initial charge of attempted murder or of Mr Spencer’s incarceration in the police cells.