Police raids lead to uproar

Update

KNYSNA NEWS – Last Thursday, 12 January, chaos erupted at the Knysna taxi rank as police conducted a raid as part of a district-wide crime-combatting operation.

Following the raid, members of the public retaliated, leading to clashes between police and the public.

The operation had started the previous day with raids in Plettenberg Bay on Wednesday 11 January.

Conducted under the theme "More boots on the ground to enhance visibility", the operation was focused on drug-related activities and historically drug-prone areas of Knysna, Sedgefield and Plettenberg Bay.

The Thursday raids started in Smutsville where, according to Southern Cape police spokesperson Sgt Chris Spies, police "simultaneously pounced on three drug outlets situated in the vicinity of Witbooi Street", all close to each other.

A few hours later the same team descended on the Knysna taxi rank in Nelson Street in Knysna's CBD. "Three more suspects were arrested on a charge of dealing in drugs each, after drugs were found in their possession," Spies said. Further raids were conducted in Hornlee, leading to more arrests and drug busts.

It was however the raid at the taxi rank that caused quite the kerfuffle. Members of the public did not take kindly to the raids, and even less so to seeing the three suspects hauled into the back of police vans. A crowd gathered and clashes with police forces followed.

Video footage of the clashes has circulated on social media. In the footage, a member of the public can be seen lunging out and punching a police officer in the face. A different police officer immediately kicks out at the individual who punched his comrade.

This heightened tensions between the public and police, and within seconds, members of the Southern Cape Public Order Policing Unit who had accompanied local police for the raid, took decisive action. According to Spies, stun grenades were thrown and rubber bullets were fired to disperse the crowd.

Following on from the raids and unrest, a group of people claiming to be members of the local RastaFari community gathered outside the Knysna police station to protest and demand that the trio who were arrested during the raid be released. During their protest, they claimed that police only targeted RastaFari individuals and people at the taxi rank during drug raids. Spies however stated that "the accusation is misplaced".

According to Spies, between 1 December 2022 and 15 January this year, there were 40 drug-related incidents in central Knysna - some of which involved more than one type of drug. "Of these 40, only 15 were at the taxi rank," Spies said.

He further said that 20 cases involved the possession of tik, 21 the possession of Mandrax, while only one involved the possession of marijuana and one the possession of unga.

Iman Benjamin (Elder Blaze) was struck by a rubber bullet during the unrest after the raid.