Leopards and cars in Port St Johns

                                                 Leopards and Cars in Port St Johns

The years running up to the 1994 election were years of total mismanagement on the part of the police in Transkei. Was there such a thing as an honest cop? Those of us who lived in Transkei doubted it. There didn’t seem to be any justice at all. Criminals were arrested, often caught red handed (so there must have been some hardworking honest cops, not so?), but the arrestees were generally let out on low bail, from which they absconded, or they escaped from custody with the help of a uniformed cousin-brother, or the files ‘got lost’. Yeah right, as in burnt.

The Stolen Vehicle Squad and the Water Wing of the South African Police often worked in the area undercover. How, you ask? Transkei only had two border posts on its 40 odd roads that lead to South Africa, so the SAP moved in and out quite easily, sometimes with their intended targets, more often without, because the criminals in Transkei had a wonderful network of informers that were linked to the South African Police Headquarters. Often, perpetrators were arrested by the SAP, and handed over to the Transkei courts. That was a seriously demoralizing exercise in ‘why bother’. If the files actually made it to court, there was a good chance that the magistrate was drunk, practically illiterate, or both. And because he had no clue of what he was doing, or had been paid a bribe by the arrestee, or was just related to him, few nasties saw the inside of a jail cell.

A gang of car thieves started operating in Port St Johns. A gang so connected to the police, that they just weren’t arrested. They damaged the entire town’s economy, which was based on tourism, and today walk the streets of Port St Johns as honest citizens. But leopards aren’t known for changing their spots, and one of these days, when times get a bit hard, and easy pickings are needed, they’ll probably revert to their old ways.

No car was safe; old, new, luxury, it was borrowed on a long term basis. The residents of Port St Johns set up a task team, The Port St Johns Rangers, to patrol the town and keep our vehicles where they’d been parked with gorilla steering wheel locks, gear locks, alarms, chained and padlocked gates complete with big dogs. Some car owners went to the extreme lengths of removing alternators and such like or parking their cars at the police station and walking home from there. Did it help? Sort of. 100 cars were stolen in 101 days. Why did they miss out one? You tell me. But it wasn’t one car a night, it would be a couple or more, then there’d be a break for a few days, and then it would start again.

The Port St Johns Rangers were headed by a gun-ho character, who I’ll call Jack the Weasel for short. Jack was one of those macho, egotistical personalities that believed in the power of the gun, and he brandished his about while trying to look as he-mannish as possible. He is remembered with lots of wry amusement as being very quick on the draw with his mace spray. If he found himself in a corner during an argument in a pub, he would ruin an otherwise pleasant evening by spraying his opponent with gas. Jack later tried to become a mercenary in Iraq, but they turned him down. Maybe for instability?

Even with just about every able bodied man doing his duty for the town and patrolling the streets, the car thieves still had a great time. On occasion, an arrest would be made, they would be in court for a day, and then they’d be on the streets again. The leading leopard on an occasion of being arrested and charged, cited the reason for his stealing cars was that he had several houses, and he had to steal cars to supplement his income, so that he could pay the bonds. ‘Nough said.

Mr Leopard even had a quick buck scheme. He’d steal a car, then do the honest citizen act, go to the owner with ‘information’, and offer his services as a go-between negotiator. A few thousand Rands later, the car would be back with the owner, who of course had promised not to tell the police.

Complimentary to the Police Station, there was the local CID office, in another part of town. Many a time in the small hours of the morning, a very skorro skorro (Transkei slang for wreck) tow truck would come and remove vehicles from the yard. When the police who lived and worked there were asked by the neighbours what was going on there, the neighbours would be told that nothing had been seen or heard by them. Supposedly that house now has a really miffed off ghost who shoves furniture around and makes horrid noises - was he possibly the victim of a car theft where not only his car was stolen?

Eventually the thieving stopped. As a result of a jealous girlfriend, and not the efforts of the PSJ Rangers. The woman in question had been the main leopard’s lady friend, and when she was jilted by him, she arranged an attack on him. Mr Leopard was severely stabbed and left to die on the banks of a stream. Unfortunately he was found in the morning, and hospitalized. He emerged a new man, an honest citizen, ready to give back to the community after all the harm he’d done. He became a top police informer, and is the reason why many thieves now sit behind bars in the re-incorporated State of Transkei. But those spots are only just under the skin surface…….. has he really changed?