The family of a Table View police captain who was arrested for allegedly stopping Kraaifontein police from executing an arrest late last year, says her jail stay has caused them financial distress..
Ella Moses, of Scottsdene, was arrested on Saturday September 26 last year for defeating the ends of justice after she allegedly stopped the police from arresting a man suspected of carrying an unlicensed gun (“Cop in court for ‘interfering’”, Northern News, October 7 2015).
Captain Moses has been held in Pollsmoor Prison’s awaiting-trial section in the eight months since her arrest, which her family have branded “unfair treatment”.
They have drawn comparisons with cases involving two other police officers, including one from Kraaifontein, who swiftly received bail after being charged with crimes last year.
One of the police officers, the family said, had been arrested for extortion and racketeering after he allegedly tried to coerce a Somali shop owner into paying him a bribe. And a Pinelands officer had been granted bail after being arrested for cooking drunk drivers’ blood samples in a microwave.
Captain Moses’s sister, Dianne Willemse, who spoke on behalf of family members present during the interview, said her sister’s treatment had “dented the family financially” after she was suspended without pay.
The family started a petition, with more than 500 signatories from Scottsdene, in an attempt to get her bail.
Earlier this year, Captain Moses’s cousin, Lewellyn Canie, arrested on the same charge of defeating the ends of justice, had appeared with her at a bail hearing at the Kuils River Magistrate’s Court on February 29. He had had his bail set at R1 000, but hers was denied, Ms Willemse said.
The National Prosecuting Authority’s spokesman, Eric Ntabazalila, refused to discuss the merits of the case, including the reasons why Captain Moses’s bail was denied. And by the time of going to print, Justice Department spokesman Mthunzi Mhaga, had not replied to our questions.
Ms Willemse said her sister had been responsible for the financial needs and medical expenses of their mother, Fredrieka, who is diabetic and had been living with her. That responsibility now fell on her. She said her sister, who had been in the police force for 25 years until her suspension, had been “treated unfairly”.
She said because her sister is a police officer her life was in ever-increasing danger the longer she spent in Pollsmoor.
Christiaan Geduld, a Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (POPCRU) paralegal representing Ms Moses, said he was not authorised to discuss the contents of her disciplinary hearing, although he said it was ongoing.
Popcru spokesman, Richard Mamabolo, had not responded to queries sent to him by the time this edition went to print.
Mr Ntabazalila said Ms Moses would appear at the same court on August 2 for defeating the ends of justice.