Accused of abuse of power, Nzama plays victim card

Durban metro police chief Eugene Nzama would not allow a guard to sign off a purchase receipt after buying two storage boxes from a shop in Springfield Park. Nzama then ordered that the guard be arrested. The incident was caught on camera. Screengrabs: Supplied

Durban metro police chief Eugene Nzama would not allow a guard to sign off a purchase receipt after buying two storage boxes from a shop in Springfield Park. Nzama then ordered that the guard be arrested. The incident was caught on camera. Screengrabs: Supplied

Published May 31, 2016

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Durban - Under-fire Durban metro police chief Eugene Nzama has come out guns blazing, defending his having two “illegal” security guards arrested after he refused to have his purchase receipt signed in a Springfield shop.

Nzama - through his attorney Zane Haneef - said he was the victim of a campaign led by disgruntled staff “controlled by politicians and certain councillors”.

He issued a stern warning to his “detractors”, saying he was a career policeman and not a politician.

“He (Nzama) is of the view that the searching of an individual, or the items in his possession after the purchase at a store, is at odds with the law, especially if there are no signs at the store advising the customer of same,” Haneef said, citing the Criminal Procedure Act 57 of 1977 which “governs that process”.

“It has its own set of requirements and obligations to be complied with prior to your rights being infringed as protected by the constitution.”

Read:  Outrage at top cop’s ‘abuse of power’

Also read:  Demanding proof of purchase: Is it legal?

Nzama had “objected” to his receipt’s being signed off as he left the shop.

“When asked to go through the items, Mr Nzama did, in fact, object to this. He then asked the security official the grounds on which he made such a request, and he was told by the security official that it was simply a process that was followed, and as a security official he could do so. When Nzama then asked the officer to produce his credentials, the security officer could not do so,” the letter said.

Nzama objected to the process because he did not believe that the shop had a right to search his items after he had paid for them. He said the security officer at the door was not a registered security officer and could not confirm if he was in the country legally or not.

Read:  Shop owner exposes Nzama's abuse of power

“It was at that point that he summoned the assistance of other officers.”

Regarding previous scandals involving Nzama that had been reported on - which included calls for his resignation by the taxi industry and his subordinates he said his client had never been found guilty of any allegation levelled against him. The allegations, which date back to 2010, include corruption, nepotism and harassment.

“The matters were thoroughly investigated and Nzama was cleared.”

SA Municipal Workers Union eThekwini deputy secretary Nkosinathi Zuma said Nzama had not been found guilty because he had never been subjected to a disciplinary hearing.

He said the union had compiled various dossiers relating to abuse of power by Nzama and unnamed “henchmen”, but councillors he now claimed to be a victim of had done nothing.

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@Sihle_MG

The Mercury

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