While South Africa has been under lockdown because of Covid-19, police and defence force members’ conduct has left some people feeling uneasy about the rules of engagement during the national shutdown.
Srinidhi Macavauy, a pharmacist in Komani, said he was disappointed by the conduct of an officer who abused his essential services permit to get preferential treatment at his medicine outlet.
According to Macavauy, an officer recently visited Komani Medlife Pharmacy where he skipped the queue and demanded to be served first. The said officer allegedly produced an essential services permit as his reason for getting preference.
“He just barged in and wanted to be assisted ahead of all the people who were here. He had an argument with the fellow monitoring people at the door and insisted on being let in,” said Macavauy.
He said although he told the officer, who was not in police garb, to first ask the other customers, he insisted on heading to front of the line.
“I told him it did not work like that. I also work in essential services. That does not mean I can demand to be attended to first in a supermarket. The sick, elderly, the needy, the frail and pregnant women are our first priority,” he said.
The officer eventually left after being convinced that Macavauy would not yield to his demand. The officer allegedly used expletives to voice his displeasure.
Macavauy said although the incident was regrettable, he was happy when he received a call from the police station to clear the air.
In a separate incident, a Tarkastad resident, Eric Mafilika, said encountering police during this lockdown had been a very unpleasant experience, saying “I could have been another statistic”.
The unhappy teacher said he was abused by two officers who accosted him outside a bank in Tarkastad.
Mafilika said the officers approached him after they had identified his car “as moving up and down” during lockdown. Upon explaining the reason for his being about town, the police allegedly said “community members” had been complaining about his endless movements.
He said although he had provided a permit and proof of the errands he was running, the police did not seem satisfied and started to threaten him.
“They surrounded my vehicle and started to threaten me,” he said, this after a number of other officers had moved on to the scene.
