When a Grahamstown woman got a bank SMS while she was at work, informing her that someone had just spent close to R3 000 on her credit card account, it was bad enough. But when local police refused to open a case, she was outraged.
When a Grahamstown woman got a bank SMS while she was at work, informing her that someone had just spent close to R3 000 on her credit card account, it was bad enough. But when local police refused to open a case, she was outraged.
Rhodes staff member Anna Christensen, said she'd first become aware something was amiss last Wednesday when she got an SMS through her bank's client-contact service that a payment for R2 750 had been made on her credit card account at a shoe shop in town.
Quickly checking her belongings, she realised her credit card was missing, along with her wallet and, after calling the bank to cancel her cards, went to the shop concerned to investigate.
A store employee said their camera would have recorded the fraudulent purchase, but that the recordings could be released only with authorisation from their offices in Port Elizabeth.
Christensen obtained the shop's copy of the credit card slip, however, with a poorly forged signature on it, and took it to the Beaufort Street police station. But she was stunned, she said, to be told that the officer couldn't open a case because there was "no proof" a crime had been committed.
She said the officer was adamant that what appeared to be a blatantly forged signature did not constitute proof that a crime had been committed and he was therefore under no obligation to open a case and give her a case number.
Having seen the Rhodes campus surveillance video, however, a friend called the police station and insisted they open a case for her.
Christensen was livid when she returned to the police station and demanded an investigation into why the police officer had previously refused to open a case – something she considered a "simple right".
Christensen said it appeared her wallet had been stolen from an office at the university's Department of Journalism and Media Studies around midday. While the physical description of the person who used the credit card did not match the appearance of the suspect on the campus surveillance footage, the shopper had evidently wasted no time in spending a substantial amount of money on shoes in the shortest time possible.
To add insult to injury, Christensen said, when she reported that her driver's licence had been stolen along with the wallet, the officer advised her to go to the traffic department to get a temporary driver's licence.
Not only had all her cash been in the stolen wallet, Christensen said, but the licensing department would naturally require an identity document – which had also been in the wallet.
Later a good Samaritan found Christensen's wallet, without the cash and credit cards, behind a fence at Settlers' Close and it was returned to her. She has applied to her bank for the spent funds to be returned to her.
Police spokesperson, Mali Govender, commenting on the first police officer's refusal to open a case, said that the police would not tolerate poor service delivery to the public. She said that if a complaint was laid it would be investigated, as they have surveillance cameras in the police station. Because they knew what time the incident had taken place, it would be very easy to identify the police officer in question and take the appropriate steps.
Captain Govender said that any member of the public who was not satisfied with police service should either demand to speak to the senior duty officer or write to the station commander, Brigadier Morgan Govender.
