Are people really safe in the hands of the police?

Ok, so this is what happened, a man who was staying next to our house had just died. He was staying alone after divorcing his wife. His name was Mr Simon Adam. Before he died, he gave my father his other gate keys. This is because he saw the struggle we went through taking our car out of the yard and putting it back, our yard was generally smaller.

It was a big challenge taking the car out and into the garage; this needed a professional driver I guess. Using Mr Adam's gate made it much easier that even my younger sister could even manage to drive out and drive in the car. Little did we know that Mr Adam had a son who was around his mid-thirties I guess? His name was Ally. We had never seen Ally ever since we started staying in Polokwane around the year 2000. During Simon's sickness and death, Ally was never seen.

Ever since his father had divorced his wife, he was always alone and sometimes had visitors such as friends, workmates and relatives. The wife he had divorced was not Ally's mother because she looked way too young to be Ally's mother. From the way Ally looked, I just suspected and concluded that he was coming from jail. I also linked this to the reason of his absence during his father's sickness, death and funeral.

It was on a Sunday afternoon after church as we were just relaxing as a family under a shed. I was with my parents and siblings. That is when we saw a muscular chocolate skinned guy entering our gate swiftly holding a stick like thing made of steel.

This guy looked so furious that he got us all frightened and we were all green with envy including my father although he never wanted to show it, because he is a man. He came exactly where we were seated and never bothered to greet anyone but immediately started accusing my parents for trying to take over his father's house. He was basing his accusations on the fact that my father was given keys to the backyard gate which was directly opposite to our garage. He then tried to attack us as my father was explaining to him what had happened in his absence that led to his father giving us another key to his gate.

We all stood and ran for our lives, we ran for safety inside the house. He really acted strange as if he we were someone under the influence of very strong drugs. In daylight, no one came to our rescue as we shouted while running into the house. He started hitting our white Toyota bakkie with huge stones and the stick made of steel he had in his hands. He broke all the glasses on all the windows including the windscreen. I was watching all this through the window from my bedroom.

He destroyed our one and only car as I watched and I could not do anything to stop him, it was all beyond my control. He was so energetic and I am sure anyone who was going to get closer to him with the aim of stopping him, was bound to lose his/ her life in the process. He hit the car's body several times to the extent that it lost its shape. I quickly rushed downstairs to the kitchen where I had left my phone, grabbed my phone and snappily went back to my bedroom upstairs. I locked the door and entered into the wardrobe.

I was confused and sat in the wardrobe not knowing what to do. I had my phone in my hands but did not know the right person to call for help. I could hear my siblings and parents shouting for help but I did not have energy for all that.

My father on the other hand was also calling the Police a countless times. At this moment, no one came to our rescue as Ally kept on fighting with our car and taking out all his anger onto our car. On this day, I noticed that it was true that if you call the South African Police for help, usually they will come after some hours just to make sure that they find the criminals all gone. Even the Police here are also afraid of criminals.

I always heard people say this but I never believed them until this day me and my family became victims. The Police arrived after four and half hours, it was already sunset. Ally was now tired and sat on our Veranda, maybe to gain some more energy and continue with his mission. The Police arrived with three Police Vans. Ally was taken into the other car and was locked in the canopy. He was going there for some torturing and discipline I thought. Another Van later came and picked me and my family members.

My dad was told to follow with his half destroyed car as it was also going to help as part of the evidence. Upon our arrival at the police station, the young man was still being disciplined by the Police. My father was called in to open a case and give his statement. He left me, my mother and my siblings in our destroyed bakkie. I got out of the car and stood outside to see what was taking place inside the Police building. I was a bit traumatized and was afraid to enter inside. I peeped through the window and saw two Policemen talking with the criminal Ally. I tried to follow the conversation but could not hear a single word as they talked below their voices. After they were done with talking, one of the Policemen handed a pistol to Ally. After seeing this, I was shocked and quickly rushed back to the car. I stood at the passenger's side outside the car.

Ally came out and stood at the door of the Police building while he looked towards us with an angry face. This got us all shivering. He then stated coming to us, he arrived and stood at the other side of the car that is the driver's side. He looked at me for some minutes and everyone froze including me. He then started moving to the other side, the passenger's side where I was also standing. I ran using the opposite direction from which he was coming from and went to the driver's side. As I arrived and was about to open the door, he arrived and tried to hit me right in front of the Police station. Up to now I still wonder where I got the energy and the confidence to push him. I pushed him and he fell to the ground.

I used this chance to get into the car as he was still struggling to get back on his feet. Immediately after getting into the car, I locked the door. He tried harder to open the door but his efforts were all in vain. He went to the passenger's side, also tried to open the door but failed. This was the side at which my mother was sitting. Ally took out the gun and pointed it towards my mother. There was nothing else she could do; she was left with no any other choice besides opening the door. He then dragged my mother out of the car as me and my siblings watched. I wondered what my father was still doing inside the building as I started crying.

On this day, I asked myself, are we really safe around the Police? Are they serving their duties responsibly, fairly and rightfully? Is corruption a threat to the fulfilment of the Police's duties?  Are criminals now more powerful that the Police?

…to be continued…