After months of hard work, a group of Cape Flats cops are celebrating their 100% arrest rate for sexual assault and rape cases during 2020.
The dedicated team from Grassy Park Police Station were all smiles this week when reviewing their statistics, following a plan by top cop Colonel Dawood Laing to send a clear message to all rapists, paedophiles and abusers in the precinct.
Laing says during the annual 16 Days of Activism of No Violence against Women and Children campaign, his team set out to make sure their impact is felt all year round.
“It was simple. We set out to make sure we arrest every alleged rapist, paedophile and abuser in our precinct,” he says.
“Each time a case was registered, we immediately jumped into action and to date we have a 100% arrest rate for all sexual assault and rape cases during 2020.
“With the exception of a recent rape case which is still under investigation, we have literally gone on a hunt for perpetrators to show these suspects we are not messing around with them.”
2020 got off to a rough start for the courageous cops when 12-year-old Michaela Williams from New Horizons was reported missing.
After the community fingered Steven Fortune, 49, as a suspect, the team wasted no time in pouncing on him.
“In less than a day, we got him to confess and take us to where he dumped her body,” says Laing.
“Until today, he is in custody and we are hoping the courts give him a harsh sentence. But it was not easy for the officers who are still traumatised by the case.”
In March, Grassy Park cops were again confronted by a horrific rape where three alleged skollies were accused of gang-raping a lesbian woman.
The shocking incident led to the arrest of alleged mastermind Gerald “Boofie” Daniels, 21, of the Dog Pounds gang.
It was revealed that Boofie, along with two boys, aged 14 and 17, held the woman, 25, captive in her hokkie where they sodomised her to “correct” her sexuality.
Several months later Parkwood residents rioted when it was revealed that a 10-year-old boy was raped by his mother’s boyfriend.
Angry residents surrounded Corin Court and trapped the man in a top-storey flat where they bayed for blood and cops had their hands full trying to control the crowd.
Laing says in addition to sexual offences, the team has taken a stand against abusers, and while in many cases the victims of domestic violence decline to open cases against their partners, cops are doing what they can.
“There were more than 100 cases registered and there are only four cases outstanding.
“In August we had a case where officers came across a man beating his girlfriend in full view of her friends who stood by and watched.
“Our officers, led by Captain Wynita Kleinsmith, took the initiative and arrested the man despite the woman’s refusal to open a case.
“As they had witnessed the incident and intervened, the case stood at court.”