HAWKS TAKE A FIRM STANCE AGAINST RACISM

PRETORIA – A member of the Hawks attached to South African Narcotics Enforcement Bureau (SANEB) in Gauteng has voluntarily resigned after learning that the Hawks has laid a charge against him for calling his colleagues ‘kaffirs’.

In a text sent to SANEB members’ WhatsApp group chat, the 47-year-old Warrant Officer blatantly called one of his colleagues a ‘kaffir’, an act that triggered urgent intervention from the unit’s commanders after several members expressed disapproval of the Warrant Officer’s actions.

The officer, who has been in the service for 29 years, cannot be named as the matter is still under investigation. The National Head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation Lieutenant General Mthandazo Ntlemeza came out strongly against such behaviour and warned that any member of the Hawks who is found to be using derogatory and racism-filled words that seek to undermine one race over the other will meet the full wrath of the law.

“The Hawks is a transformed institution and we serve people of all races equally. We cannot have members within our ranks who are still living in pre-democracy South Africa. Hate Speech is a very serious case and this matter will be dealt with thoroughly so that the outcomes of the case must serve as a deterrent to those who ignore the sacrifices that freedom fighters had to make to attain a free and democratic South Africa”, a fuming Lieutenant General Ntlemeza said.