'People will lose faith in Premier Winde'

WITHHOLDING the Western Cape Police Ombudsman report into alleged infiltration of police by criminal gangs will further erode public trust not only in the police but also in the provincial government. 

This is according to slain Lieutenant-Colonel Charl Kinnear’s widow, Nicolette Kinnear, who spoke to the Cape Times this week as Western Cape Premier Alan Winde continues to withhold releasing the report to the public. 

Winde was handed the Western Cape Police Ombudsman in 2022, after he initiated an investigation following a judgment by Western Cape High Court judge Daniel Thulare, which pointed to the capture of SAPS management in the province being penetrated by the 28s gang. 

The Premier has maintained his position on not wanting to release the report, despite three years passing by and rising crime levels, because he wanted to protect SAPS officials and law enforcement officers. 

Kinnear, a section commander in the Anti-Gang Unit, was murdered outside his Bishop Lavis residence on September 18, 2020.  

The respected top cop was involved in investigations of alleged members of the 'underworld', including Nafiz Modack, and their affiliates, among which were several high-ranking corrupt police officers.  

“The Premier is also standing on that fine line where the people are going to start losing faith in him as well,” said Nicolette Kinnear. 

“Why are you holding onto not coming out with this report? It’s like you want to gun SAPS on the one hand but you guys are doing the same thing on the other side. (With) the commission (ongoing), I feel there is nothing you can save anymore. So whilst we are opening up, I think that is the only way people are going to gain a bit of respect, it’s going to take years to rebuild trust but at least they are going to see there’s movement."

 She warned that with the revelations of corruption within the justice system coming out in the Madlanga Commission and the Ad Hoc Committee, already, there was no belief in SAPS. 

“I know it must be difficult but I just feel the general has done the part. Thus far, the things that he said likewise with my husband’s report, the investigations were found to be solid and legit. Just go ahead and open it up. Yes, you may sit with egg on your face but at least you will regain a bit of integrity, a bit of respect back from the people. Because slowly but surely, if the Ombudsman report is not released, I think the people are going to start looking at the Western Cape government the same way they are looking at the SAPS at this stage.”

In an interview on Friday, Winde said that he had not classified the report but decided not to make it public for the safety of certain officers.  

She referred to a similar instance in which the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) refused to make her late husband’s report public. That investigation focused on the implicated police officers and their alleged role in Kinnear’s murder.

“Like with my husband’s report being classified. The only thing that can be classified as a state secret is something that’s threatening the state. What in my husband’s report was threatening the state? There was nothing. The only thing that was in there was high (profile individuals) and top cops that were named. The only reason why they declassified it was because they realised they were making fools of themselves because while they were holding onto this classification, the high court proceedings were going on. So the very people and names they were trying to protect were coming out in the witness box anyway. Because in that time, the warrant officer who was alerted to my husband's pinging, for example and alerted General Sibiya and those people, he testified. But because of the police chain of command, if I’m your junior, your senior would also have to be charged. So, how is it now going to look if the head also goes.” 

Nicolette maintained, whether people want to accept it or not, “it’s a vicious cycle, I’m just hoping more and more doors are ripped open and mats swept out under people’s feet”.

Cape Times